Kavita Puri

Kavita Puri is an award-winning journalist and radio broadcaster. In her landmark three-part series Partition Voices for BBC Radio 4, she documented the untold stories of Colonial British and British Asians who lived through the Partition of India 70 years ago, and assessed its legacy in Britain today. The programmes won the Royal Historical Society’s Radio and Podcast Award and its overall Public History Prize. The testimonies are being archived by the British Library Sound Archive. Her book based on the BBC series is due out in 2019. Her two critically-acclaimed Radio 4 series, Three Pounds in My Pocket, charted the migration of South Asians to post-war Britain, and she writes and lectures on these subjects.

Kavita works for BBC Current Affairs as the editor of Our World, a foreign affairs documentary programme. Recent awards for its coverage include the Royal Television Society and the Foreign Press Association and she was named Journalist of the Year by the Asian Media Awards. Prior to this, Kavita worked at Newsnight as a political producer, film producer and assistant editor. She studied Law at Cambridge University.

The role is not remunerated. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Kavita has declared no such political activity.

Rail Minister Jo Johnson today (12 July 2018) re-affirmed the government’s commitment to improving the rail network for passengers in the South West during a visit to the region.

Meeting with representatives from the Peninsula Rail Task Force (PRTF) he welcomed the news that Network Rail was ready to launch the next phase of resilience work on the route between Teignmouth and Dawlish, as design studies by world-leading engineers were nearing completion.

The line between Teignmouth and Dawlish was badly damaged by storms in 2014. Since then, the government has provided Network Rail with more than £15 million in funding to enable engineers to carry out detailed investigations into how best to protect the line from extreme weather.

Jo Johnson said:

We are investing in the biggest modernisation of the Great Western Railway since Brunel built it more than 150 years ago, giving passengers what they want: faster, more frequent and more comfortable services.

But it is vital we find a permanent solution to the problems at Dawlish because it is a crucial link for the people and the economy of the South West.

With funding from government, world-leading engineers have been carrying out detailed ground investigation to understand what is happening to the cliffs and coastline in 3 key areas around Dawlish and Teignmouth. These comprehensive studies are nearing completion, enabling Network Rail to show later this year how they will take the next steps to protect the railway line and coastline.

Investment on the Great Western Railway also includes 29 new Hitachi AT300 trains, at a cost of £361 million, which will serve the London to Exeter and Plymouth to Penzance routes later this year, meaning nearly 25% extra seats for passengers. There will also be main line signalling enhancements increasing capacity and improving journey times.

On his visit to the region, Mr Johnson also met with St Ives MP Derek Thomas to discuss the movement of goods on passenger services between Cornwall and London.

At an EU exit roundtable in Edinburgh today [12 July 2018] the Scottish Secretary gave an update on the UK Government’s proposals for exiting the European Union.

On the day the UK Government published The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Mr Mundell met with leading figures from Scotland’s business, energy, fishing, farming, food and drink and financial services sectors. He set out how these proposals will bring significant benefits to Scotland and the whole of the UK. He listened closely to the views of those round the table.

Mr Mundell said:

We have an ambitious and comprehensive plan which respects what the UK Government has heard from businesses about how they want to trade after Brexit.

Our proposals will ensure that Scotland – and the rest of the UK – is best placed to capitalise on the opportunities of Brexit.

It is a plan which is good for jobs and prosperity and for the safety and security of people here and in Europe. We will take back control of our borders, our money and our laws, but do so in a way that protects jobs, allows us to strike new trade deals through an independent trade policy and keeps our people safe and our Union together.

It was very useful to discuss our proposals with Scottish businesses and hear their views.

The proposals, agreed at last week’s Chequers meeting, include:

• A UK-EU free trade area that will avoid the need for customs and regulatory checks at the border. The friction-free movement of goods is the only way to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

• A new business-friendly customs model—a facilitated customs arrangement—that would remove the need for customs checks and controls between the UK and the EU. Crucially, it would also allow the UK to pursue an independent trade policy. The UK would apply the UK’s tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the UK and the EU’s tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the EU.

• The UK will have its own independent trade policy, with its own seat at the World Trade Organisation and the ability to set tariffs for its trade with the rest of the world.

• A far-reaching security partnership that will ensure continued close co-operation with allies across Europe while enabling the UK Government to operate an independent foreign and defence policy.

The UK Government will be accelerating negotiations over the summer, securing a new relationship in the autumn, passing the withdrawal and implementation Bill and leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019.