Sep102017

Press release: Hurricane Irma: UK government actions update, 10 September 2017

HM Government
  • RFA Mounts Bay, our first military response, patrols Caribbean waters for 6 months of the year during the Hurricane season (June to November). Its crew are in a high state of readiness to be able to swiftly provide humanitarian and disaster relief, which they have already delivered to Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.  
  • The Prime Minister announced a £32 million relief fund to support the humanitarian effort and the UK was the first country to arrive on the scene. In addition to this, the UK government is also doubling all public donations made to the British Red Cross appeal.  

  • A team of British humanitarian experts has been in the region for a week working with authorities and directing the humanitarian response.

  • In Anguilla, RFA Mounts Bay has:
    • delivered 6 tonnes of emergency aid
    • rebuilt and secured the Emergency Operations Centre
    • restored power to the hospital
    • reinforced shelters
    • cleared the runway at the airport (which is now serviceable)
    • cleared roads, including to the police station
    • provided further support in the British Virgin Islands  

  • HMS Ocean is also being deployed and will help with the reconstruction after the hurricane. Additional UK government staff are on standby to provide assistance once the hurricane has passed.

  • There are just under 500 troops currently in the region, made up of marines, engineers, medics and specialists, including Army and RAF personnel.

  • A C17, Voyager and A400M aircraft carried over 200 Royal Marines, as well as engineers and specialist personnel from all 3 Services. They have provided medical supplies and aid including 2.2 tonnes of UK aid shelter kits providing shelter for almost 1,000 people, rations and clean water. A total of 10,000 UK aid buckets and 5,000 solar lanterns have been dispatched.

  • Amongst those deployed were the 40 Commando Royal Marines and the 3 Commando Brigadiers, 8 DFID humanitarian experts, 10 FCO Rapid Deployment staff as well as humanitarian experts funded by UK aid.

  • Two members of the UK police cadre, who offer support to the military in times of international crisis, flew out on Friday and a further 53 British officers, from 14 police forces are due to fly out on Sunday.  

  • Our Ambassador to the US has deployed teams of staff at airports in the affected areas of the USA. They are providing advice and support to British nationals in Florida and issuing emergency travel documents.

  • Our US Network is liaising closely with the US authorities to get British nationals to safety.

  • The Foreign Office has set up a hotline for those concerned about friends and relatives affected by the hurricane: +44 (0)20 7008 0000.  At their request, we are taking all emergency calls for the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands on this number.

    • We continue to work flat out to help the people who have suffered so much in the Caribbean, particularly of course in our overseas territories, in Anguilla, in the Turks and Caicos, and above all in the British Virgin Islands where there’s been massive devastation. We’re following the path of Storm Jose now, we’re sending 500 troops, they’re already in the region, huge amount of supplies, all sorts of efforts to get fuel into the region, to get power generation started again to help with sanitation, getting the hospitals going and everything that you would expect from the UK government to support British people overseas.

    And I just want to say to everybody watching this, if you want to give, if you want to support those who have suffered in the terrible disasters of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose, then we recommend giving to the Red Cross, and we in the UK government will match you pound for pound.

    Sep102017

    Twenty years on: the 1997 referendum

    Scottish Labour

    11th September 2017 

    Today is twenty years since Scotland voted for a Scottish Parliament, which was then delivered by the last Labour government.

    Here are some memories from the Labour family from ‘97.

    Elaine Smith, Labour MSP for Central Scotland:
    Labour's election victory and the referendum for a Scottish Parliament gave many people in Scotland hope after the devastation of 18 Tory years. I have friends who joined the Labour Party due to our promise to deliver a parliament and they have remained active members. The SNP at the time famously said Labour 'couldn't deliver a pizza never mind a parliament'.  Ironically 20 years on and it is an SNP government who are failing to deliver social justice, failing to tackle poverty and failing to address the crisis in health and education. The full potential of the yes/yes vote and our powerful parliament has yet to be achieved and that is very disappointing for those of us who campaigned with such high hopes. 

    Elaine Smith's Yes/Yes badge. 

    Paul Sweeney, Labour MP for Glasgow North East:
    Although I was only 8 years old, I remember the sense of excitement and of hope in that year and in the two years later during the first Scottish Parliament elections and the opening ceremony, which I remember vividly – particularly the poems and the singing of A Man's a Man. It felt like the new Labour government, with some now legendary figures in Scottish politics at its heart, was leading the progress of our country and doing so in a way that unified people behind a common purpose. A stark contrast to the divisiveness of the 2014 referendum.

    The Scottish Parliament chamber

    David Whitton, former adviser to Donald Dewar and Labour MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden:
    There is no doubt that Scotland was very lucky that, when it came to delivering Labour’s 1997 election promise of devolution, Donald Dewar was that man.
    A lifelong believer in home rule for Scotland, when to be so was to court unpopularity among the party faithful north and south of the border, allied to a ferocious work ethic and shrewd intellect, Donald Dewar was the ideal choice to pilot such a historic piece of legislation through the House of Commons.
    Some in the media dubbed Donald the “Father of the Nation,” not a title he would have ever have claimed for himself. Yet, there is no doubt history will record that Donald Dewar was the deliverer of devolution and that cannot be denied.

    Donald Dewar, Labour and Scotland's first First Minister.  

    Lewis Macdonald, Labour MSP for North East Scotland:
    I’ve still got the t-shirt: the one I wore canvassing football fans at Scotland v Belarus at Pittodrie on 7 September 1997 (We won that one 4-1!)

    Sep102017

    Where has Mr Blair been for the last eight years? We voted to take back control, including control of our money.

    John Redwood MP

    Mr Blair’s fantasy re negotiation of the UK’s deal with the EU ignores Mr Cameron’s long attempt to negotiate just such a change to the EU benefits and migration policies without any success He ignores the fact that there is no machinery or legal basis for any such attempted future renegotiation.

    He of course dismisses the referendum, which he does seem to be aware of. He does not seem to have grasped that when we voted to leave we voted to take back control of all matters, not just EU migration. Did he not hear any of the debates about wanting to spend our own money, which I see he just ignores. Did he grasp that we want to pass our own laws?

    It is most disappointing that a man who gained the top political office by democratic means now has such a scorn for the wishes of the people who used to sustain him.

    Sep102017

    Constituents stuck in the hurricane zone

    John Redwood MP

    I have only heard of two constituents who are said to be alive and unharmed but stuck on a holiday island that has been wrecked by the hurricane. When I got the message yesterday I contacted the Foreign Office website and hotline. They told me of the immediate plans to send in supplies and personnel to the UK related islands, and to work with the French and Dutch who will do the same for the islands under their protection. They had no plans to help get people home yet. They urged my constituents to contact the local government on the island concerned, which in this case is not a UK related island, for further guidance.

    I want the UK government to help the private sector and the governments of the islands to plan for the safe passage home of all those UK tourists, business people and others who want to get back after their harrowing time with the disaster. I have therefore written to both the Minister of State in charge, Sir Alan Duncan, and to the Foreign Secretary urging them to consider this and make more advice and help available as soon as possible. I appreciate airports and seaports have in many cases been damaged and the weather still presents hazards to shipping and planes, but those stuck would like to know someone is planning to recreate some transport links that can work soon.