Category: 0 Archive

I welcome the appointment of Martin Griffiths to the role of UN Special Envoy for Yemen. Mr Griffiths brings a wealth of experience from several high profile UN positions in the region, and is a leading expert on international mediation and conflict resolution.

I would like to thank Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed for his dedication in the role of UN Special Envoy since April 2015, working to facilitate a credible peace process in Yemen.

The UK is at the forefront of international efforts to help bring to Yemen the peace, stability and security that all Yemenis deserve. This can only be reached through an inclusive political settlement. Mr Griffiths and his team will be central to achieving progress and I call upon all parties to engage with the UN process in good faith.

Notes to editors:

The UK strongly supports the work of the UN in Yemen. We support the efforts to reboot a UN peace process as a matter of urgency. By the end of the financial year 2017/18, we will have provided £1.68 million to the UN Special Envoy’s office to bolster the UN’s capacity to facilitate the peace process.

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A dangerous driver who caused the death of a man in Tooting by careless driving has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, appealed it as too low.

Anthony Howell hit Adinajib Awale on the junction of Tooting Bec Road and Dr Johnson Avenue on 2 May 2015. Despite his car suffering damage because of the collision, Mr Howell did not stop at the scene. Instead, after returning home, Howell called the police for a crime reference number for insurance purposes. He said that the damage had been caused by someone throwing something at his car.

Howell was originally sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment suspended for 2 years at Kingston Crown Court. Today, following action from the Solicitor General, the Court of Appeal increased Howell’s sentence to 16 months, to be served immediately.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General said:

“Anthony Howell’s actions are inexcusable; to cause a fatal collision because of careless driving is atrocious and to fail stop at the scene to help the victim was disgraceful. No sentence can bring back Mr Awale but I hope that the increase will bring his family some comfort.”

The Charity Commission is encouraging anyone who would like to share relevant information about the Presidents Club Charitable Trust and the charity’s fundraising event on 18 January to come forward, in order to help the Commission determine whether trustees of the charity have complied with their legal duties and responsibilities.

The Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, opened a regulatory compliance case into charity on 24 January 2018, following media reports alleging that some staff were exposed to harassment and inappropriate activity at the event. The police have already stressed that any allegations of criminal behaviour should be reported to them.

Tracy Howarth, Head of Regulatory Compliance at the Charity Commission says:

It is important that anyone who attended or worked at the event knows they can come forward and raise concerns with us. We can’t provide any legal remedy or compensation to individuals. But what we can and must do, is to assess whether the trustees of the charity complied with important legal duties and responsibilities in managing their charity.
We want to ensure we have all the information possible to make a balanced and reasoned assessment of the facts.

So I would like to encourage anyone with relevant information to come forward.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Commission at: rauemailteam@charitycommission.gsi.gov.uk.

The Commission stresses that some the issues raised by the event are not within its regulatory remit and it is working closely with other regulators as appropriate.

The opening of the case is not in itself a finding of wrongdoing. When the case has concluded, the Commission will publish a report detailing what issues it looked at, what it found and what it did. Previous Commission regulatory case reports are available on GOV.UK.

Notes to editors

1. As a result of the media coverage arising from the event, the trustees of the Presidents Club Charitable Trust have decided to carry out an orderly winding up of the charity. They have confirmed they will not take any steps to dissolve the Charity until the Commission’s regulatory compliance case is complete.
2. The objects of the charity allow funds to be applied for such charitable purposes as the trustees may decide. The charity has made grants to a number of charities. Some of these have said that they now wish to return funds to the charity. The Commission has published guidance on its website for those charities who are considering whether or not they should, or can, return charitable funds insert link. In most cases, the Commission’s consent will be required to authorise the return of historic donations.
3. The trustees have established a separate contact point to deal with complaints and intend to appoint an appropriately qualified independent complaints assessor to consider those complaints received. No complaints have been made to date. The trustees have told the Commission that they are committed to the timely and efficient resolution of any complaints received.

Speaking after a tour of the shopping centre, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said:

I am absolutely delighted to be here in Victoria Square enjoying the very best that Belfast has to offer. You just have to look at this view, look at what this city is today, and think about what has been achieved in 20 years. Think about how much more we can do, and how much we have to build on, to continue Belfast and Northern Ireland’s success.

I’ve just been hearing about how in terms of retail outlets, this centre is number one not just in Northern Ireland but in the island of Ireland, and it is number three in the whole of the United Kingdom in some categories. That is a fantastic achievement. It really goes to show what is bringing people to Belfast, why they are coming to Northern Ireland and why we want it to continue.

This has been a difficult week, I’m not going to make any pretence of that. We worked extraordinarily hard to do our very best to enable an Executive to be formed and I still believe that can be done, with the will of the politicians to deliver what the people of Northern Ireland want and need: their elected politicians doing the right thing and delivering devolved government for the people of Northern Ireland. The message I have had from the retailers and shoppers I have met downstairs is that that is what they want too. They want to exploit the opportunities that would come from a stable government being able to deliver the reforms and the transformation this country needs.

I am here to help them deliver that. I will do all I can to try and get devolved government back into Stormont because I genuinely believe that is the best thing for the people of Northern Ireland.

The government has announced a review of its 25 year Bovine TB strategy to be chaired by Sir Charles Godfray, a population biologist and Fellow of the Royal Society.

Four years after the 25 year strategy was first published, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said he believes now is a good time to review progress and consider what additional actions might be necessary now to ensure other tools and interventions are ready to be deployed in later phases of the strategy. The government has said it also envisages future reviews at five yearly intervals.

The 25 year strategy outlined a very broad range of interventions to fight the disease including tighter cattle movement controls and removal of infected cattle from herds, improved diagnostic tests, enhanced biosecurity measures, the culling of badgers in areas where disease is rife, vaccination of badgers and work to develop a viable vaccine for use in cattle.

So far, the principal elements deployed in the first phase of the strategy have been cattle movement controls, the removal of infected cattle from herds and the badger cull which covered more than 20 different areas in 2017. Michael Gove and Farming Minister George Eustice have said they want to ensure other elements of the strategy, such as cattle vaccination or developing genetic resistance, are ready to be deployed in the next phase of the strategy in order to ensure the government maintains progress towards its target of becoming officially TB free by 2038.

Farming Minister George Eustice said:

Bovine TB is a slow moving, insidious disease which presents many challenges. It is difficult to detect, can be harboured in the wildlife population and no vaccine is fully effective. There is no single measure that will provide an easy answer and that is why we are pursuing a wide range of interventions including cattle movement controls and a cull of badgers in areas where disease is rife.

Now is a good time to review progress to date and identify steps we could take now to accelerate some of the elements of our 25 year strategy that might be deployed in later phases. While the badger culls are a necessary part of the strategy, no one wants to be culling badgers forever.

Bovine TB has a negative effect on the health and welfare of affected animals and dealing with the disease costs the taxpayer an estimated £100 million a year. Over the last year alone more than 30,000 infected cattle had to be slaughtered in England.

The review’s Terms of Reference are available.

The review is due to end in September 2018. The findings will be submitted to Defra Ministers for consideration and a final report published in due course.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP will visit the University of Kent’s Law Clinic today to see the pro bono work happening there.

While there, the Solicitor General will also take part in a ‘hot seat’ Question and Answer session. The students will have the opportunity to ask questions about pro bono work and Public Legal Education.

The Solicitor General will also tour the new £5 million Kent Law Clinic as part of his visit and meet staff and solicitors from the local community who volunteer there. The Law Clinic takes on pro bono cases for individuals and community organisations who are unable to afford other legal services.

The Solicitor General said:

Pro bono work often starts at universities and colleges, where students gain first-hand experience of providing legal advice and help to those in need.

The advice these students give will help make a real difference to people’s lives as well as to the communities in which they live.

They are the next generation of lawyers, and the skills they gain now will put them in good stead in their future professional careers.

The students gain practical experience of the law in the clinic, and are involved in all aspects of casework. They undertake such tasks as interviewing clients, carrying out legal research, drafting statements of cases, negotiating and appearing as advocates before the County Court and other forums.

Professor John Fitzpatrick, Kent Law Clinic director said:

We are delighted that the Solicitor General is to visit the Kent Law Clinic, and warmly welcome his support for pro bono legal projects in universities.

Working in law clinics to provide a free legal service to those who need, but cannot to pay for access to the law offers students not only a new way of learning the law itself and very useful vocational skills, but also a new perspective on law and society.

We can only make a small contribution of course, but we hope a rich one to those clients and students who are involved.