Apr32017

Jeremy Corbyn comment on the PM’s visit to Saudi Arabia

Labour
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Jeremy
Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party,
commenting on the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, said:

“The Prime Minister
should put human rights and international law at the centre of her talks with
Saudi Arabia’s government this week.

“Numerous human
rights organisations, including the UNHRC and Amnesty International, have
documented the dictatorial Saudi monarchy’s shocking human rights record.

“The Saudi-led
coalition bombing in Yemen, backed by the British government, has left
thousands dead, 21 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and three
million refugees uprooted from their homes.

“Yemen urgently
needs a ceasefire, a political settlement, and food aid, not more bombing.
British-made weapons are being used in a war which has caused a humanitarian
catastrophe.

“Britain must halt
arms sales to Saudi Arabia immediately, throw its weight behind a ceasefire
resolution at the United Nations and back a full and genuinely independent
investigation of the evidence of war crimes in Yemen.

“As it stands, the
British-Saudi relationship is damaging to the people of Saudi Arabia, Britain
and the wider Middle East, and helping to export insecurity to the rest of the
world. 

“Unless the Prime
Minister challenges the Saudi regime over its abuses this week, it will be
clear she is ready to sacrifice human rights and security on the altar of the
arms trade.”

Apr32017

Press release: £2.4 billion funding boost for England’s schools

HM Government
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Thousands of schools across England are to benefit from a £2.4 billion cash injection, Education Secretary Justine Greening announced today (3 April 2017).

It comes as new government figures show that almost 735,000 additional school places have been created since 2010 – with 92% of new primary places and 89% of new secondary places created in schools rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2015 to 2016.

Local councils say they need to create over 230,000 primary and secondary school places nationally between 2017 and 2020. The funding announced today will provide a further boost to the government’s drive to help create over 600,000 extra places by 2021, which will generate additional capacity to meet local demand.

Schools, local authorities and academy trusts will also receive a share of £1.4 billion to invest in upgrading or improving their school buildings. As part of this, academies and sixth-form colleges throughout the country, will receive a total of £466 million to pay for almost 1,500 vital school building work projects.

As part of its Plan for Britain, the government wants every child to have access to a ‘good’ school place, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future.

Alongside this multi-billion pound investment, the government is considering wider proposals to ensure school standards continue to rise by creating more ‘good’ places in every part of the country.

These proposals include lifting the ban on new grammar schools – on the strict condition they improve the education of other pupils in the system – as well as harnessing the expertise and resources of our universities, and our independent and faith schools.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said:

Our Plan for Britain is to build a fairer society, with a good school place available for every child.

This £2.4 billion investment, together with our proposals to create more good school places, will help ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

The £2.4 billion allocated today is part of more than £24 billion the government has committed to investing in the school estate between 2015 to 2021.

  1. We have announced £2.4 billion of capital funding allocations to create new school places across the country, and to maintain and improve the condition of school buildings.

This funding comprises £980 million of funding allocations for local authorities in 2019 to 2020, to create over 60,000 school places needed. This is part of a wider investment of £7 billion in the course of this Parliament which, alongside our investment in the free schools programme, we expect to create an additional 600,000 places by 2021.

The funding also comprises £1.4 billion of funding allocations for schools, local authorities and academy trusts to invest in improving the condition of the school estate. This includes £466 million through the Condition Improvement Fund to fund 1,435 projects across 1,184 academies and sixth-form colleges.

  1. The government’s ‘schools that work for everyone’ consultation closed in December last year (2016). The responses are currently being considered, and the government will respond shortly.

  2. The government has also published today:

Apr32017

Greens call on EU to create new agency to avert future Dieselgate scandals

Green Party
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Keith Taylor MEP: “Dieselgate is not a problem of too much Europe, but too little”

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, is joining fellow MEPs in calling for the creation of a new independent surveillance agency ahead of a vote on the findings and recommendations of the committee inquiry into the Dieselgate scandal.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee, of which Mr Taylor is a member, has already voted to back the establishment of a new EU-wide agency to guarantee independent enforcement of EU emissions legislation.

Keith, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s Transport Committee and a vocal campaigner on air quality issues, said ahead of the vote on Tuesday (4 April):

“The dieselgate inquiry shows unequivocally that EU emission limits, far from simply being ignored by some car manufacturers, were the subject of deliberate fraud with criminal intent, through the use of so-called ‘defeat devices’ which trick the test procedure into thinking that the car produces much lower nitrogen oxide emissions than it does on the roads. Nitrogen oxides react in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide, which is toxic to human health.”

“The inquiry is clear that member states and the EU Commission both failed to act on emissions fraud and are not sufficiently impartial to ensure a similar scandal does not happen again. It is clearly not enough to simply ask our national governments and the Commission to do better next time.”

“The establishment of an EU-wide independent and neutral surveillance body, that has the power to test vehicle emissions in the laboratory as well as in real driving conditions, is absolutely essential for the health and wellbeing of the people of Europe, who have twice been the victims of Dieselgate; from being exposed to toxic air pollution and having their rights as consumers disregarded.”

“Dieselgate is not a problem of too much Europe, but too little. The UK government’s promise of a bonfire of regulations and the fact that Tory MEPs tried to water down this report gives British citizens an alarming insight into what kind of (lack of) protections we can look forward to outside of the EU.”

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Apr32017

Follow China’s example, shut down ivory factories and shops, UN agency urges countries

United Nations
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3 April 2017 – Applauding the Chinese Government’s closure of many of its ivory factories and retail outlets, the United Nations environment wing has called on other countries and territories to follow China’s example and improve the survival prospects for elephants across the world.

The move, announced by the country’s State Forestry Administration, represents the first concrete steps in an “almost complete” ban on the domestic trade in ivory. It was announced last year and expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2017.

“This is an historic step and may well be a turning point in our fight to save elephants from extinction,” the Executive Director of UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Erik Solheim, said in a news release issued late last week.

“The true measure of the success of these new rules will be how well they are enforced,” he added.

According to UNEP, the closures on 31 March represent the end of business for around one-third of officially sanctioned ivory-carvers and licensed retailers in one of the world’s largest markets for the sale of ivory, where elephant tusks are used to make decorative objects and as traditional gifts or displays of wealth.

With 100,000 elephants killed in the last decade alone and only around 500,000 left worldwide, bans like this cannot happen soon enough.

Mr. Solheim also pledged to work closely with the Chinese government to ensure a healthy natural legacy remains for the world’s children and grandchildren.

Lower prices mean fewer poachers

Also, following the announcement of the ban, ivory prices have fallen by almost two-thirds and public awareness campaigns have played a key role in reducing the demand. These mean that the killing of elephants for their tusks and illicit trade of the ivory is not as lucrative as it once was.

Such legislation, enforcement and a change in public attitudes will not only protect wildlife but also benefit people who live in the countries where elephants are found.

Furthermore, combatting illegal trade in ivory helps the fight against corruption as well as helps curb the funding that finance the activities of criminal gangs.

What’s good the elephants is good for everyone.