Day: July 24, 2018

The tenth meeting of the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group took place in London on 19 July 2018, chaired by the Rt Hon. Alistair Burt MP, Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and HE Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain.

Mr Burt and Shaikh Khalid, together with officials from Bahrain and the UK, discussed a wide range of areas of bilateral co-operation, including regional issues, defence, security, human rights, education, the environment, and trade and investment opportunities.

The UK remains fully supportive of Bahrain’s plans to deliver sustainable change in the Kingdom. The Ministers agreed that the UK would continue to share appropriate technical assistance, expertise and experience. Mr Burt also congratulated Bahrain on being the first country in the region to achieve Tier 1 status in the US 2018 Trafficking in Persons report.

Both governments will continue to work in partnership to achieve progress on the areas discussed ahead of the next meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Bahrain later this year.

Speaking at the end of the Joint Working Group, Alistair Burt said:

It was a pleasure to welcome Shaikh Khalid to London today, for a productive meeting of our Joint Working Group. The UK and Bahrain have always had a close and important relationship which continues to grow in strength across a wide range of areas of mutual interest.

The UK will continue to support Bahrain on the delivery of ongoing reform initiatives, and we will work together to underpin peace and security in the Gulf region.

More information

The UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group was established in March 2013. It is a forum for discussing issues of mutual interest across the bilateral relationship, including regional and trade issues, with a focus on reform and human rights.

96% of people who responded to the non-statutory consultation backed the need for the improvements to this junction, which will be redesigned under the plans to create dedicated free flow lanes which will allow drivers travelling between the M3 and the A34 to avoid using the junction roundabout.

The roundabout itself will be rebuilt to allow for the additional lanes to run through it, increasing capacity and making it easier for traffic to interchange between the M3 and the A34. This will reduce queuing and make journey times more reliable.

Highways England Project Manager Simon Hewett said:

More than 110,000 vehicles use this busy junction each day to interchange with the A34 and routes into Winchester, often more than 6,000 each hour during peak times. Regular road users know that often becomes congested, with queues backing up onto the main carriageway.

The upgrade to M3 junction 9 will create new dedicated link roads to separate out local and long distance traffic. Through traffic will not have to stop at the roundabout, freeing it up for local traffic and commuters. We are improving access for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians, with the upgrade including a new 4m side cycle path with a new footpath next to the cycleway to the River Itchen.

We are aware of people’s concerns about traffic merging between the A34 and A33; this was the most common point raised during the consultation period and we are reviewing a number of options to address this.

A public consultation on the upgrade was held from 9 January to 19 February. 854 responses were received during this consultation. Information events were held in the Winchester area for the public and stakeholders including local authorities, landowners and businesses, so people could look at the plans and speak to members of the project team.

96% of people who responded to the consultation questionnaire said they agree that improvements are needed at the junction. 98% of people were concerned about traffic congestion at the existing M3 junction 9, with 92% concerned both about road safety and reliability of journey time.

Today’s announcement paves the way for work on the upgrade to start in the 2021, subject to statutory processes. The upgraded junction is expected to be fully open to traffic in 2023.

A copy of the consultation report and announcement flyer can be found on the Highways England website where anyone interested in the scheme can also sign up to receive updates.

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Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

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Foreign Office Minister for the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan said:

I am deeply concerned by the ongoing violence in Nicaragua, particularly the excessive use of force by the authorities and pro-government armed groups against the people of Nicaragua. Reports of human rights abuses, including the use of live ammunition, are alarming and should be thoroughly investigated. For stability to return to the country the Nicaraguan Government must take responsibility for ending the violence and provide safe conditions for peaceful dialogue to resume.

The UK supports the work by the Organisation of American States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN, and we urge the Nicaraguan authorities to allow them to carry out their work without any interference. We also welcome the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference’s mediation role and encourage all parties to commit to a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

Further information

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