Communities Minister Lord Bourne has today (6 June 2019) launched a national strategy to tackle entrenched inequality and improve the lives of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is to lead the national strategy, working with several government departments and the Cabinet Office Race Disparity Unit to improve outcomes in areas including health, education and employment.

Communities Minister Lord Bourne said:

We recognise that members of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities continue to face some of the steepest challenges in society. Despite ongoing government work in this area, it’s clear that more needs to be done.

Health, education and housing inequalities are considerable, and we know that that there are disproportionate levels of violence experienced by some women and girls within  Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

To bridge these divides and tackle these vital issues, we are launching an ambitious programme of work, to be undertaken across government, which will aim to tackle the serious disparities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

The announcement comes as communities across the country celebrate the start of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month and will build on the government’s ongoing work to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

In order to address the serious disparities highlighted by the Race Disparity Audit, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has provided £200,000 of funding between 6 projects aiming to improve outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the areas of educational attainment, health and social integration.

The department has also funded 22 projects which support Roma communities across England through the Controlling Migration Fund.

In addition, the department has provided funding to 2 projects to improve the reporting of hate crime by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.

I have today (6 June 2019) published a government consultation on 11 proposed refinements to the route of HS2 Phase 2b, the section of HS2 running from Birmingham to Leeds via the East Midlands, and from Crewe to Manchester. These include the first proposals for infrastructure to one day allow Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) trains to use the HS2 route and vice versa.

HS2 is making progress and work on Phase 1 (from London to the West Midlands) is well underway. Around 9,000 jobs are now supported by the delivery of HS2, with 300 apprentices on board and 2,000 businesses working on building the new backbone of Britain’s rail network.

HS2 Phase 2b will complete the full ‘Y network’ and deliver the full benefits of HS2 in terms of capacity and better connections between cities and towns. Phase 2b will be a catalyst for regeneration and economic growth across the North and Midlands. In July 2017, I confirmed the route from Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds via the East Midlands. In November 2018, I consulted on working drafts of the environmental statement and equalities impact assessment for Phase 2b, a major milestone in preparing the hybrid bill. I am today publishing a summary of the responses to those consultations, which are informing HS2 Limited’s ongoing design work.

The proposals I am putting forward today mark another major milestone for HS2 Phase 2b and follow extensive work to ensure that the route offers the best value for taxpayers’ money as well as minimising disruption for residents and impacts on the environment.

This consultation includes proposals to allow for 2 future junctions that could see the HS2 line into Manchester used as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR). These proposals have been developed in partnership with Transport for the North, and, in the future, would open up the opportunity for a potential new route between Manchester and Liverpool that could also be used for services between London and Liverpool.

Design work on the scheme continues and where further change is needed we will consult again ahead of bill deposit. Further scope to support the interfaces with NPR (including at Leeds) and Midlands Connect is currently being considered and is subject to future funding decisions. This consultation also considers some works on the existing rail network that will allow for HS2 trains to run between the south and our great northern cities.

It is an opportunity for communities affected by all the proposed changes to have their say in how the scheme develops. Good quality community engagement is crucial to HS2 and we want the input of those who will be affected.

In addition to today’s consultation, I am also publishing updated safeguarding directions for the Phase 2b route to reflect the project’s updated land requirements. I am also extending the rural property support zones for Phase 2b in certain areas, this brings a greater number of property owners in scope of these compensation schemes, or a higher value payment, enabling more people to benefit.

Copies of the command paper and safeguarding directions will be laid in the House of Commons and House of Lords libraries.

7-year disqualification for Bolton CEO who caused charity to collapse by entering into contracts that set unachievable targets.

Mr Owen Jenkins has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia and non-resident Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

Thank you President Macron for your support to ensure a lasting monument to the service and sacrifice of those who fought in the Battle of Normandy – something which means so much to our veteran community and to the whole of the British nation.

It is incredibly moving to be here today, looking out across beaches where one of the greatest battles for freedom this world has ever known took place – and it is truly humbling to do so with the men who were there that day.

It is an honour for all of us to share this moment with you.

Standing here, as the waves wash quietly onto the shore, it’s almost impossible to grasp the raw courage that it must have taken that day to leap out from landing craft and into the surf – despite the fury of battle.

No one could be certain what the 6th June would bring. No one would know how this – the most ambitious – amphibious and airborne assault in all of human history, would turn out.

And, as the sun rose that morning, not one of the troops on the landing craft approaching these shores, not one of the pilots in the skies above, not one of the sailors at sea – knew whether they would still be alive when it set once again.

If one day can be said to have determined the fate of generations to come – in France, in Britain, in Europe and the world – that day was the 6th June 1944.

More than 156,000 men landed on D-Day – of which 83,000 were from Britain and the Commonwealth.

Over a quarter million more supported operations from air and sea – while the French Resistance carried out extraordinary acts of bravery behind enemy lines. Many were terribly wounded.

And many more made the ultimate sacrifice that day and in the fierce fighting that followed, as together our allied nations sought to release Europe from the grip of fascism.

Men like Lieutenant Den Brotheridge of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. 28 years old. Husband. Father-to-be. Thought to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in action after leading the charge over Pegasus Bridge.

Marine Commando Robert Casson of 46 Royal Marine Commando, who was killed on the approach to Juno Beach, three weeks before his brother Private Joseph Casson was also killed in Normandy.

And twins Robert and Charles Guy, 21, who both served in the RAF and were shot down and buried separately. Their names will now be reunited here.

These young men belonged to a very special generation, the greatest generation. A generation whose unconquerable spirit shaped the post war world. They didn’t boast. They didn’t fuss. They served. And they laid down their lives so that we might have a better life and build a better world.

The memorial that will be built here will remind us of this. Of the service and sacrifice of those who fell under British Command in Normandy, of the price paid by French civilians – and of our duty, and our responsibility, to now carry the torch for freedom, for peace and for democracy.

I want to thank all those involved in this memorial. George Batts and the veterans who have campaigned so hard to make it happen. The people of Ver-sur-Mer, and Phillipe Onillon the town’s mayor.

Here in Normandy, the names of those British men and women who gave their lives in defence of freedom, will forever sit opposite their homeland across the Channel.

Here, in Normandy we will always remember their courage, their commitment, their conviction.

And to our veterans, here in Normandy, I want to say the only words we can: thank you.