Pulse.Assent

Today’s (5 February) development by President Yameen to declare a state of emergency in Maldives follows an order by the Supreme Court on 1 February to immediately release nine convicted political leaders and retry their cases.

The Supreme Court also ordered that all MPs who have not been allowed to exercise their responsibilities should be permitted to sit in the People’s Majlis (Parliament) in accordance with the Constitution and the law, which has not been carried out by the Government of Maldives.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

I am gravely concerned about the declaration of a state of emergency in Maldives, and the accompanying suspension of fundamental rights. The damage being done to democratic institutions in Maldives and the sustained misuse of process in Parliament is deeply worrying.

I call on President Yameen and the Government of Maldives to peacefully end the state of emergency, restore all articles of the constitution, take immediate steps to implement in full the order of the Supreme Court, and to permit and support the full, free and proper functioning of Parliament.

Further information

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Prime Minister Theresa May today chaired the inaugural meeting of the Housing Implementation Taskforce – a cross-government working group attended by, among others, the Chancellor, the Housing Secretary, the Transport Secretary and several other Cabinet Ministers, to discuss the progress Government is making and further actions needed to increase housing supply.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Today the Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of the Housing Implementation Taskforce at Downing Street.

She stressed the integral role all Government departments have in helping to fix the broken housing market and deliver 300,000 additional homes by the mid-2020s.

The taskforce discussed the steps Government has already taken, including further investment at the Budget, planning reform, releasing land faster, the Housing White Paper and building more affordable housing.
They emphasised the key role of Homes England in driving forward change, and also focused on the supply of new housing, public sector land sales, land banking, house-building skills and building the infrastructure needed for new housing developments.

The Prime Minister reiterated that a step change was needed right across Government and that all departments needed to think creatively about how they can contribute to building the homes the country needs.

Ministers who attended the meeting included:

• Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
• Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
• Rt Hon David Lidington CBE MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Rt Hon Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education
• Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Rt Hon Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport
• Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence
• Baroness Buscombe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions
• Oliver Dowden CBE MP, Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet