Category: Gov Press Releases

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Today the Prime Minister called Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki to discuss the use in Salisbury of a military grade nerve agent developed by Russia.

The Prime Minister said this was another example of an unacceptable pattern of aggressive Russian behaviour, and Prime Minister Morawiecki expressed his full solidarity with the UK in its response to this reckless act.

The Prime Minister thanked Prime Minister Morawiecki for his strong support and they agreed on the importance of a determined response from the European Union and the wider international community.

They looked forward to meeting and holding further discussions on this matter at this week’s European Council.

Independent investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will arrive in the UK tomorrow to kick off their investigation into the nerve agent used in the attempted assassinations of Mr Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury on 4 March.

The team from The Hague will meet with officials from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the police to discuss the process for collecting samples, including environmental ones.

These will then be despatched to highly reputable international laboratories selected by the OPCW for testing with results expected to take a minimum of two weeks.

This is the next step in the process to independently verify the analysis carried out by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down. Last Wednesday, the Prime Minister wrote to the OPCW to formally invite them to verify the Government’s analysis of the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack. Subsequently the UK’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW wrote to the Technical Secretariat inviting them to come to the UK to take a sample, under Article 8 of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It reflects the UK’s commitment to fully complying with the obligations of the Chemical Weapons Convention. On 12 March the Foreign Secretary summoned the Russian Ambassador and sought an explanation from the Russian Government, as Article 9 of the convention is clear we have the right to do. We received no meaningful response. It is therefore Russia which is failing to comply with the provisions of the convention. We should resist any Russian attempts to muddy the waters.

The Foreign Secretary revealed this morning that we have information indicating that within the last decade, Russia has investigated ways of delivering nerve agents likely for assassination. And part of this programme has involved producing and stockpiling quantities of novichok. This is a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The start of the investigation by the international chemical weapons watchdog comes as the Foreign Secretary travels to Brussels to brief foreign ministers from across the European Union on the attempted assassinations in Salisbury before meeting with the NATO Secretary General.

As the Foreign Secretary noted this morning, we have been encouraged by the international support we have received to date. More than 20 countries across 6 continents have expressed their solidarity with us and we will continue to work with our European partners and allies around the world to tackle the threat posed by Russia to our collective security.

Background

• Novichok is a nerve agent, which meets the Chemical Weapon Convention’s (CWC) definition of a chemical weapon, toxic chemical and precursor. Thus it is covered by the Convention’s prohibitions.
• The chemical was positively identified by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, which is one of the accredited and designated labs in the OPCW laboratory network.
• Russia is the official successor state to the USSR. As such, Russia legally took responsibility for ensuring the CWC applies to all former Soviet Chemical Weapons stocks and facilities.
• Members of the Convention must declare chemical weapons stockpiles and facilities and destroy Chemical Weapons within ten years of the convention coming into force for that party. In 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force for Russia and solidified Russian commitments to chemical weapons disarmament and non-proliferation.
• Developing, stockpiling and using chemical weapons are all a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Further information

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Three China and Hong Kong based e-tailers – ttHigo, Goxip, and MyMM – have agreed to run free banner advertising promoting British goods on their platforms as part of the GREAT Festival of Innovation. Together, they have a combined potential audience of 720 million internet users across China and Hong Kong meaning British businesses could reach millions of potential new customers.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is amplifying these campaigns to Asian consumers across digital channels, highlighting a host of sectors where British firms lead the way.

One hundred and sixty-four leading British brands in fashion, beauty, homeware and general consumer merchandise are benefitting from this initiative, including British fashion designers such as Victoria Beckham and Vivienne Westwood to Waitrose and Wool and the Gang.

The week-long campaign will be timed to coincide with the upcoming GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong (21 to 24 March), which will showcase the best of Britain to Asia. Several hundred of the UK’s most creative business and institutions will attend, with a packed programme examining how innovation and technology will change the way we live, play, and learn in the future.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, said:

As an international economic department, we are putting British businesses in a position to benefit from the opportunities that global markets provide and the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong next week is just one example of this.

Demand for the UK’s quality goods and services in key international markets is already growing and as we look to create our own independent trade policy for the first time in over 40 years our businesses stand ready to flourish.

At the GREAT festival of innovation, UK businesses will have the chance to meet with Asian counterparts to discuss possible trade and investment opportunities.

And the advertising deal will build on recent positive Office for National Statistics trade figures which show that trade in goods and services between the UK and Hong Kong reached £19.6bn in 2017, up 15.1% from 2016.

DIT’s E-Exporting Programme helps UK retailers and brands to accelerate their global growth via e-commerce. It supports UK businesses by partnering with marketplaces to deliver online promotions, raising awareness for British exporters selling products on these platforms.

One UK business benefitting from the campaign is Little Butterfly London, a multi-award winning mother and baby beauty brand founded in 2015. Working with DIT on their export plans for the last 2 years, the brand has rapidly grown in overseas markets, including the US, Middle East, and Asia.

Gudrun Wurm, Founder and Director of Little Butterfly London, said:

Asia has been a fantastic market for us – consumers there really appreciate that our products are made in the UK, are high quality and organic certified.

We currently sell our products on various platforms including MyMM’s mobile commerce app and we are delighted to be receiving increased brand awareness through the UK Government’s GREAT campaign. We look forward to seeing more traction as a result of the advertising.

John Steere, President of MyMM, said:

We very much look forward to promoting UK brands among Chinese consumers as part of the GREAT Festival of Innovation. MyMM are delighted to be supporting an event which demonstrates UK excellence and seeks to drive future prosperity for UK exporters by strengthening trade links between the UK and Asia.

To complement their online campaign, ttHigo, a Chinese marketplace owned by Newegg, will run a networking session at the GREAT Festival of Innovation, as well as a global seller event for over 200 attendees in Huangzhou.

-ENDS-

Further information

The E-Exporting Programme

DIT’s E-Exporting Programme helps UK companies to accelerate their global growth through e-commerce. The programme provides access to the Selling Online Overseas tool on great.gov.uk. It’s a free-to-use, online service that allows businesses to click, connect, prepare and sell on global marketplaces such as MyMM, Goxip and ttHigo. The tool provides access to discounts and benefits, including reduced commissions and special marketing packages.

The GREAT Festival of Innovation

The Great Festival of Innovation Hong Kong will be the third of its kind, following successful events in Istanbul (2014) and Shanghai (2015). Its vision is to create long-term partnerships that drive the future of free trade and prosperity between the UK and Asia.

Several hundred invited delegates will attend the Hong Kong event, which takes place at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre and will feature more than 60 panels and events over its 4 days. For more information, please visit great.gov.uk/innovation or follow the hashtag #GREATinnovation.

The Department for International Trade

The UK’s Department for International Trade (DIT) has overall responsibility for promoting UK trade across the world and attracting foreign investment to our economy. We are a specialised government body with responsibility for negotiating international trade policy, supporting business, as well as delivering an outward-looking trade diplomacy strategy.

The GREAT Campaign

The GREAT Britain campaign is the government’s most ambitious international marketing campaign ever, and showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer. It aims to encourage audiences to visit, study, invest in and do business with the UK, generating jobs and growth at home. The campaign has delivered £2.7 billion of benefit to the UK economy to date, with a further £2.6 billion in the pipeline and has been commended by the National Audit Office.

An FCO Spokesperson said:

Our Ambassador in Moscow has just been informed by the Russian government that they will expel 23 diplomats, close the British Consulate-General in St Petersburg and close the British Council in Moscow.

This follows the action we have taken, alongside other measures, to dismantle the Russian espionage network operating in the UK as a consequence of the attempted assassination of two people here in Britain using a nerve agent.

In light of Russia’s previous behaviour, we anticipated a response of this kind and the National Security Council will meet early next week to consider next steps. Our priority today is looking after our staff in Russia and assisting those that will return to the UK.

Russia’s response doesn’t change the facts of the matter – the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable. It is Russia that is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

We have no disagreement with the people of Russia and we continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between our countries but the onus remains on the Russian state to account for their actions and to comply with their international obligations.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

This afternoon the Prime Minister discussed the Salisbury attack with Prime Minister Gentiloni of Italy.

The Prime Minister reiterated that this was not just an act against the UK but a clear breach of chemical weapons convention.

Prime Minister Gentiloni affirmed Italy’s full support and solidarity with the UK and the leaders agreed on the need for continued international co-operation to maintain pressure on Russia.

They looked forward to meeting and holding further discussions at next week’s European Council.

The dialogue involved a fruitful exchange of views on political and bilateral issues, economic and development cooperation, security and defence cooperation, and exchanges on current global issues, including the Rohingya crisis. The UK commended Bangladesh for hosting over one million forcibly displaced Burmese nationals. Bangladesh welcomed the UK’s assurance that it remains committed to keeping the international spotlight on the Rohingya crisis, and to supporting Bangladesh in its humanitarian response and the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the Rohingya to Burma.

The Strategic Dialogue was led by Permanent Under-Secretary of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon McDonald, and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque of the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting began with both sides noting the success of the inaugural Strategic Dialogue in Dhaka last year, and welcoming the progress made in bilateral relations. Both sides underscored the importance of an exchange of visits and interactions at the highest political level, including the visit of the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to Bangladesh in February 2018. Both sides briefed on their countries’ political developments domestically and internationally.

The UK restated its commitment to maintain a high quality service for Bangladeshi nationals at the visa application centres in Dhaka and Sylhet. The UK looked forward to early implementation of the Cross-Border Higher Education Rules which will allow UK universities to operate in Bangladesh.

Both countries agreed on the importance of education for women and girls. The UK welcomed the significant progress Bangladesh has made in this area.

The UK welcomed Bangladesh’s continued commitment to take back its citizens who no longer have the right to remain in the UK, and welcomed significant progress in this regard.

The UK congratulated Bangladesh for being on course to graduating to middle income country status. It welcomed Bangladesh’s efforts and commitment to improving performance against the World Bank’s “Doing Business Index”. Both sides agreed that trade was an important tool in tackling poverty, and that increasing bilateral trade could bring significant benefits to both countries.

The UK encouraged Bangladesh to continue addressing human and labour rights issues, in the garment industries.

Both sides affirmed their strong commitment to the implementation of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” including Sustainable Development Goals. The UK and Bangladesh reiterated the importance of coordinated global action on climate change and reaffirmed their strong support for early and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement of 2015.

Both sides agreed to work closely in support of Prime Minister May’s goal to cultivate a new, global and co-ordinated approach to eliminate forced, labour, modern forms of slavery and human trafficking.

The UK and Bangladesh reaffirmed their support for the Commonwealth and looked forward to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in London in April 2018.

Both sides agreed to arrange appropriate celebrations in London and Dhaka in 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UK and Bangladesh.

Commenting on the Strategic Dialogue, Sir Simon McDonald said:

I was glad to host the second Strategic Dialogue with my Bangladesh counterpart Md. Shahidul Haque in London. We held good discussions across a range of high priority areas for both the UK and Bangladesh.

The Strategic Dialogue was held at an important juncture for both countries as the UK prepares to leave the European Union and Bangladesh advances to middle income country status. I repeated the UK’s commitment to continue tariff-free market access for Bangladeshi goods entering the UK market after the UK leaves the European Union.

The UK looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit which takes place in London next month.

Commenting on the Strategic Dialogue, Md. Shahidul Haque said:

The second Strategic Dialogue provided us an important opportunity to discuss how both sides can encourage transition to a broader relationship between the UK and Bangladesh in the post-Brexit and post-LDC context.
We agreed to planning now for a future development partnership focussed on innovation, knowledge, skills development and employment while continuing to ensure that no-one is left behind, especially women, girls, and people with disabilities.

We appreciated the UK Government’s firm commitment to continue to provide duty-free, quota-free market access to Bangladeshi goods to the UK market after it left the European Union.
We highlighted the valuable contribution that the British-Bangladeshi community continues to contribute to British society and prosperity.

Notes to Editors:

1. This was the second Strategic Dialogue between the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. The first Strategic Dialogue was hosted by Bangladesh in March 2017. The second Strategic Dialogue took place at the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The third Strategic Dialogue will be held in Dhaka in 2019.

2. The UK is Bangladesh’s largest bilateral development partner.

3. The UK will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in London from 16-20 April.

The UK’s Minister for Europe, Sir Alan Duncan, will meet the Foreign Ministers of all six Western Balkans countries during his first official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

The ministers will discuss preparations for the UK-hosted Western Balkans Summit – set to take place in London in July.

The Minister will also meet with BiH’s Chair of the Council of Ministers, the Federation Prime Minister and the Bosnian Foreign Minister to reiterate the UK’s unwavering support for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sir Alan will urge the country’s political leaders to put aside ethnic divisions and implement urgent socio-economic reforms to promote prosperity for all its citizens.

Ahead of his visit, the Minister for Europe said:

The Western Balkans remains vitally important to the UK. We are committed to playing an active and supportive role. Our hosting of the 2018 Western Balkans Summit demonstrates our continued engagement in the region.

The UK has invested significantly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We co-launched with Germany an initiative to inject momentum into BiH’s stalling reform process. We believe this process will lead to a stable, secure and prosperous BiH.

During my visit, I will be urging BiH’s political leaders to put ethnic divisions aside and focus on the issues that matter to all citizens in BiH: jobs and economic growth.

All the latest news is available on the Foreign Office page of the gov.uk website at: www.gov.uk/fco

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The rare discovery was made at a site in Ruislip, West London, when HS2’s ground investigation team unearthed a previously unknown material, located up to 33 metres below the surface.

The layer of black clay, which HS2 Ltd has named the ‘Ruislip Bed,’ is thought to have been formed from densely wooded marshes on the edge of a sub-tropical sea. HS2 Ltd made the surprising find while investigating ground conditions in the area, prior to the construction of the Northolt Tunnel, a 14 kilometre tunnel which will run from West Ruislip to Old Oak Common.

HS2 has been investigating the ground at around 8,000 locations along the first phase of HS2, from London to the West Midlands.

Ruislip Bed Discovery Animation

Dr Jacqueline Skipper, a geological expert from Geotechnical Consulting Group, said:

Although ground investigations regularly take place across the country, it’s really exciting and very unusual to come across a material that no-one has ever seen before. The ‘Ruislip Bed’ discovery is particularly fascinating, as it is a window into our geological history.

It would have been formed during the Paleocene period, which was a time of intense change, with new animals evolving following the extinction of the dinosaurs. Most of Southern England was covered by a warm sea and this clay helps us to pinpoint where the coastline was.

Steve Reynolds, HS2’s Ground Investigation Programme Manager, added:

Since 2015, we have been investigating ground conditions along the route of HS2, so we can design the railway in the safest and most efficient way.

We have been exploring the soil and rocks beneath the surface through various methods, ranging from drilling into the ground and taking samples to using radar technology. Our main investigations are almost complete, with over 1 million laboratory tests undertaken on the samples we have taken. It’s the largest ground investigation programme that the UK has ever seen and an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the ground beneath our feet.

The initial ground investigation programme on Phase One of the railway, from London to the West Midlands, will be largely complete by the end of March 2018. This will be followed by supplementary, targeted investigations, led by HS2’s main works contractors.