Biomedical engineers are pioneering a new technique for treating injured limbs which could reduce amputations after battlefield injuries.

The technique has been developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) through the Defence and Security Accelerator.

Created in response to the experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan, where improvised explosive devices caused traumatic injury, the three-stage approach is a brand-new technique that brings together kit that can be used in the field, with highly specialised solutions once the patient is evacuated to a hospital.

A novel tourniquet is applied to the limb, which applies pressure at different points, reducing pressure and damage to specific areas. A cooling ‘sock’ is then wrapped around the tissue, to preserve it from further damage until the casualty can be evacuated to a care facility. Once at a hospital, the limb is placed inside a protective ‘box’, which can sustain the area while doctors attempt repairs. The box has specially decontaminated air to reduce infection, and continually supplies the affected area with blood.

Weighing only five kilogrammes, the technology is specially designed for deployment on operations, and used by combat medics. The system could also be used in a non-military setting, for example natural disasters or remote locations.

Following successful trials, the system is set to be available commercially, and could one day form part of the medical kit in every frontline unit.

Dr Neal Smith, Capability Adviser, Medical Sciences, from Dstl, said:

While this technique may not be right for every injury, it is a hugely important innovation that could save the limbs of many more of those affected. It’s a fantastic example of where we work with academics to fund life-changing research which has been turned into a product to improve the quality of life of those injured in service.

Professor Terry Gourlay, Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Strathclyde University, said:

We looked at every stage of the journey an injured soldier follows after injury to ensure our solution was designed specifically for them.

The system we have developed is essentially a life-support system for the limb which gives doctors precious time to attempt to repair damage while ensuring the safety of the patient.

Professor Gourlay’s team also pioneered the blood salvaging technique known as HemoSep, which allows blood lost in surgery to be transfused directly back to the patient, reducing the need to donated blood. A military version of the HemoSep project was also funded by Dstl.

Find out more about our Protecting Our People Programme.

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the incident in Salisbury – and the steps we are taking to investigate what happened and to respond to this reckless and despicable act.

Last week my Rt Hon Friends, the Foreign and Home Secretaries, set out the details of events as they unfolded on Sunday the 4th of March.

I am sure the whole House will want to once again pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of our emergency services and armed forces in responding to this incident, as well as the doctors and nurses who are now treating those affected.

Our thoughts, in particular, are with Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who remains in a serious but stable condition. In responding to this incident, he exemplified the duty and courage that define our emergency services; and in which our whole nation takes the greatest pride.

Mr Speaker, I want to pay tribute to the fortitude and calmness with which people in Salisbury have responded to these events and to thank all those who have come forward to assist the police with their investigation.

This incident has, of course, caused considerable concern across the community. Following the discovery of traces of nerve agent in Zizzi’s restaurant and The Mill pub, the Chief Medical Officer issued further precautionary advice. But as Public Health England have made clear, the risk to public health is low.

Mr Speaker, I share the impatience of this House and the country at large to bring those responsible to justice – and to take the full range of appropriate responses against those who would act against our country in this way.

But as a nation that believes in justice and the rule of law, it is essential that we proceed in the right way – led not by speculation but by the evidence.

That is why we have given the police the space and time to carry out their investigation properly.

Hundreds of officers have been working around the clock – together with experts from our armed forces – to sift and assess all the available evidence; to identify crime scenes and decontamination sites and to follow every possible lead to find those responsible.

That investigation continues and we must allow the police to continue with their work.

Mr Speaker, this morning I chaired a meeting of the National Security Council in which we considered the information so far available. As is normal, the Council was updated on the assessment and intelligence picture, as well as the state of the investigation.

It is now clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia.

This is part of a group of nerve agents known as ‘Novichok’.

Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world-leading experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down; our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be capable of doing so; Russia’s record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations; and our assessment that Russia views some defectors as legitimate targets for assassinations; the Government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

Mr Speaker, there are therefore only two plausible explanations for what happened in Salisbury on the 4th of March.

Either this was a direct act by the Russian State against our country.

Or the Russian government lost control of this potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others.

This afternoon my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary has summoned the Russian Ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and asked him to explain which of these two possibilities it is – and therefore to account for how this Russian-produced nerve agent could have been deployed in Salisbury against Mr Skripal and his daughter.

My Rt Hon Friend has stated to the Ambassador that the Russian Federation must immediately provide full and complete disclosure of the Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

And he has requested the Russian Government’s response by the end of tomorrow.

Mr Speaker, this action has happened against a backdrop of a well-established pattern of Russian State aggression.

Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea was the first time since the Second World War that one sovereign nation has forcibly taken territory from another in Europe.

Russia has fomented conflict in the Donbas, repeatedly violated the national airspace of several European countries, and mounted a sustained campaign of cyber espionage and disruption. This has included meddling in elections, and hacking the Danish Ministry of Defence and the Bundestag, among many others.

During his recent State of the Union address, President Putin showed video graphics of missile launches, flight trajectories and explosions, including the modelling of attacks on the United States with a series of warheads impacting in Florida.

While the extra-judicial killing of terrorists and dissidents outside Russia were given legal sanction by the Russian Parliament in 2006.

And of course Russia used radiological substances in its barbaric assault on Mr Litvenenko. We saw promises to assist the investigation then, but they resulted in denial and obfuscation – and the stifling of due process and the rule of law.
Mr Speaker, following Mr Litvinenko’s death we expelled Russian diplomats, suspended security co-operation, broke off bilateral plans on visas, froze the assets of the suspects and put them on international extradition lists. And these measures remain in place.

Furthermore our commitment to collective defence and security through NATO remains as strong as ever in the face of Russian behaviour.

Indeed our armed forces have a leading role in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence with British troops leading a multinational battlegroup in Estonia.

We have led the way in securing tough sanctions against the Russian economy.

And we have at all stages worked closely with our allies and we will continue to do so.

We must now stand ready to take much more extensive measures.

Mr Speaker, on Wednesday we will consider in detail the response from the Russian State.

Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian State against the United Kingdom.

And I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures that we will take in response.

Mr Speaker, this attempted murder using a weapons-grade nerve agent in a British town was not just a crime against the Skripals.

It was an indiscriminate and reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk.

And we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil.

I commend this Statement to the House.

Since 2001 UK newspaper circulation has halved and over 200 local newspapers have closed their doors since 2005. With a rapidly changing media world, news reaches people through many new channels, and existing publications have often had to compete with digital media.

Terms of reference published today outline how the Cairncross review will investigate the overall state of the market, threats to financial sustainability, the role and impact of digital search engines and social media platforms, how content and data flows are operated and managed and the role of digital advertising.

Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Matt Hancock said:

Although the internet has been an immense force for good, it has torn apart the established order and raised real questions about the sustainability and profitability of traditional journalism.

Dame Frances Cairncross will bring her experience in journalism and academia to tackle these issues with a view to examine the press and protect the future of high quality journalism.

Dame Frances Cairncross said:

Having spent much of my working life as a journalist, and seen how the digital revolution has changed both the fortunes of newspapers and the opportunities for distributing news, I am excited to be undertaking this review.

This is both a challenging and an exciting time for the press, both locally and nationally, and I hope the review will clarify both ways to ensure the future of high quality journalism and the options for public policy.

Dame Frances Cairncross will be supported by a panel of experts which includes experts in the fields of journalism, academia, advertising and technology. The panel will act in an advisory capacity, with the review’s final report and recommendations being determined by and issued in the name of the chair. The panel includes: Peter Wright, Matt Rogerson, Ashley Highfield, Geraldine Allinson, Mimi Turner, Douglas McCabe, Stephen Woodford, Akshat Rathi, Polly Curtis, and Azeem Azhar.

As well as identifying challenges, the review will make recommendations on what industry and government action can be taken, with a final report expected later this year.

Note to editors:

Dame Frances Cairncross is a former economic journalist, author and academic administrator. She is currently Chair of the Court of Heriot-Watt University and a Trustee at the Natural History Museum. Dame Frances was Rector of Exeter College, Oxford University; a senior editor on The Economist; and principal economic columnist for the Guardian. In 2014 she was made a Dame of the British Empire for services to education. She is the author of a number of books, including “The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution is Changing our Lives” and “Costing the Earth: The Challenge for Governments, the Opportunities for Business”. Dame Frances is married to financial journalist Hamish McRae.

Advisory panel members:

Jo Adetunji

Jo Adetunji is a journalist and Deputy Editor at The Conversation UK, a comment and analysis website that delivers evidence-based, accessible journalism by experts from universities across the UK and Europe. The Conversation aims to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the public via a newsroom of editors. Jo has worked in more traditional media as a reporter for The Guardian, covering stories from UK knife crime to live blogging the Arab Spring, and has also written for The Independent. She recently contributed to Philanthropic Journalism Funding in the UK, a report commissioned by the European Journalism Centre, and was an interviewer for the latest round of the Journalism Diversity Fund. She holds a degree in the History of Art from The Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Geraldine Allinson

Geraldine is the Chairman of the KM Media Group, part of Iliffe Media. KM is a Local Multimedia business that serves the people and organisations of Kent through Newspapers, Radio, Online and more recently local TV. The company employs award winning journalists and has highly trusted brands within its stable of products. Through online, print and broadcast KM reaches over 1 million people each week. Geraldine has been with KM Media Group since 1993 and became its Chairman in 2006. Prior to this she worked for Northcliffe Newspapers and the Midland News Association. She is currently a Non-executive Director at the PA Group (parent company of the Press Association), Director of the Radiocentre and a Director of the News Media Association (NMA). Previous industry positions include: President of the Newspaper Society, Chairman of the Independent Publishers Forum and the Weekly Independent Newspaper Association.

Azeem Azhar

Azeem runs Exponential View, a newsletter looking at how our world is changing in the face of the accelerating pace of technology. This is built on the back of 20 years as an entrepreneur, corporate innovator and journalist. He is currently senior adviser to the Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at Accenture, focusing on frontier technologies. Azeem advises Harvard Business Review, the Huxley Summit and several founders of disruptive technology firms. He lives in London with his wife and three children.

Polly Curtis

Polly Curtis joined HuffPost UK in August 2017 as Editor-in-​Chief with 17 years of media industry experience. Immediate prior to joining HuffPost, Polly was director of media for British Red Cross during a time that included the organisation’s largest emergency response in decades, as they operationalised after the Manchester bombing, London Bridge and Finsbury Park attacks and at Grenfell. Prior to her position at British Red Cross, Polly was digital editor at The Guardian, where she led digital plans for the Scottish referendum, the EU referendum and the 2015 election as well as the live coverage of some of the biggest breaking stories in recent times. She has a background as a news editor and reporter, having served as the Guardian’s deputy national editor, Whitehall correspondent, education editor and health correspondent.

Ashley Highfield

Ashley Highfield is CEO of Johnston Press plc, one of the largest local media groups in the UK, and owner of the i newspaper. He has worked in high levels in companies including Microsoft – where he was UK Managing Director (Consumer & Online) – and the BBC, where as executive board director for New Media & Technology, he was responsible for the development and launch of BBC iPlayer. During his tenure there he oversaw a growth in the BBC’s online presence from 3.5m to 17m users. In June 2015 Culture Secretary John Whittingdale named Ashley as one the advisory board members tasked with working on the renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter, which led to the local democracy reporter initiative. In October 2015 he was appointed Chairman of the News Media Association for a two year period. He has previously served on the boards of William Hill plc and the British Film Institute in non-executive roles.

Douglas McCabe

Douglas is a leading expert in tech and publishing media. He analyses supplier strategies and forecasts consumption, revenue and marketing expenditure. He is a former director of Fish4, the online advertising portal, and was director of sales development and market insights at Waterstones. Douglas holds a degree from Stirling University.

Akshat Rathi

Akshat Rathi has worked for both established publications and new media startups. He is a reporter for Quartz, covering science and energy, and previously worked for The Economist and The Conversation. His work has also been published in The Guardian, The Hindu, and Nature. He holds a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Oxford.

Matt Rogerson

Matthew Rogerson is the Head of Public Policy at Guardian Media Group​ (GMG)​. Matthew joined​ GMG in 2013 following 5 years at Virgin Media​,​​ where he worked on a range of issues, including responses to the Digital Britain report, the Government’s Communications Review, and broadband policy. Matthew’s work at GMG covers areas such as press freedom,​ media plurality​, digital advertising and brand safety, and the changing nature of digital news. Before ​working in the private sector, Matthew worked as a parliamentary researcher.

Mimi Turner

Mimi Turner is Founder of brand strategy consultancy Mimi Turner Associates and has more than twenty years experience in print and digital publishing. Mimi has been instrumental in growing some of the UK’s biggest digitally disruptive media brands including the Lad Bible, GIVEMESPORT and Vice Media, and has developed a deep understanding of millennial and Gen Z audiences. She is a board advisor to TRUTH, the media agency using blockchain technology to provide transparency in the advertising supply chain, and is an advisor to online video platform Suggestv, which helps publishers build brand context through video. Prior to transforming the Lad Bible, Mimi spent three years working for Richard Desmond as Group Director of Communications of Express Newspapers, Channel 5 and OK Magazine, and was also Sales and Marketing Director of The Health Lottery. Mimi spent over a decade in journalism with the Hollywood Reporter and began her career writing about science and technology for the Sunday Times and the Times.

Stephen Woodford

Stephen was appointed CEO of the Advertising Association in September 2016. Having held management roles in three agencies (Leo Burnett, WCRS/Engine and DDB/adam&eveDDB), Stephen currently chairs youth marketing agency Livity, a social purpose-driven business that seeks to transform young peoples’ lives, especially from BAME backgrounds. He was recently Chairman of Lexis PR and a founder and director of U, a challenger to conventional banks. Stephen is a past President of NABS and serves on the board of the History of Advertising Trust. He was IPA President (2003-05) where he led both their first ethnic diversity initiative and transformed its professional qualifications for new industry entrants, which over 15,000 people have now sat and passed.

Peter Wright

Peter Wright has been Editor Emeritus of Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, MailOnline and Metro, since 2012. He was Editor of The Mail on Sunday 1998-2012. He is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Complaints Committee, and the News Media Association Legal, Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company Nominations Committee. Previously he was a commissioner and later director of the Press Complaints Commission (2008-14) and the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee (2004-8). He sat on the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee Review (2014-15).

• The terms of reference can be found here.

• Recent estimates suggest that current average annual revenue per digital media user is only c.£15, compared to c.£124 per print media user: “UK News Media: an engine of original news content and democracy – A study on the economic contribution of the UK news media industry”, Deloitte, December 2016.

• An estimated two thirds of Local Authority Districts in the UK now not served by a local daily newspaper: “Monopolising local news: Is there an emerging local democratic deficit in the UK due to the decline of local newspapers?”, Gordon Ramsay and Martin Moore Centre for the Study of Media, Communication and Power, May 2016.

• The review will not address politically motivated disinformation and propaganda.

In the summer of 2016, Bill Emmott stepped down as chair of Ofcom’s Content Board and as a non-executive director on the main Board, posts to which he had been appointed in December 2015. The parties were unable to agree the terms of Mr Emmott’s departure.

Appointments to Ofcom are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). Mr Emmott subsequently brought judicial review proceedings in the High Court against the Secretary of State, challenging the decision as to how his appointment should be formally brought to an end.

During the time that he was in post, Mr Emmott, a distinguished former Editor of the Economist, brought substantial editorial and leadership experience to both the Content Board and main Board.

The parties now recognise that his departure from the post reflected changed circumstances since his recruitment and have agreed formal terms to resolve the dispute between them.

The DCMS is grateful to Mr Emmott for his significant contribution and commitment to Ofcom.

Work has started on site on a £2.5million project which will help protect around 100 homes and businesses in a South Tyneside community from flooding.

Monkton flood alleviation scheme will also see a section of the Bede Burn running underground opened up – known as ‘daylighting’ – and green space created for the community to enjoy.

The scheme is being delivered by South Tyneside Council and its partners at the Environment Agency and Tyne Rivers Trust. It’s expected to be completed in the winter.

It will tackle surface water flooding, which happens when rainwater does not drain away or soak into the ground, but lies or flows over the ground instead.

Communities better protected

Councillor Moira Smith, Lead Member for Area Management and Community Safety at South Tyneside Council, said:

We are delighted to see work get underway to reduce the risk of flooding to properties which have been badly affected in the past.

It is never possible to guarantee that an area will be flood free. However by working with our partners we can certainly help to increase the level of protection and reassurance by delivering long-term sustainable schemes such as this.

These measures will go a long way to controlling the flow of surface water and diverting it away from local residents and businesses. Once complete, communities will be better protected with the added benefit of an enhanced local environment.

Wider social and environmental benefits

The scheme involves managing surface water where problems have been identified around the Monkton Burn, Lukes Lane Estate and Leam Lane area, Mill Lane, Lilac Walk/College Road, Devon Road, Campbell Park Road/ Thirlmere Court and Mountbatten Avenue areas.

The plan includes improved drainage and landscaping next to Toner Avenue School and as part of uncovering the Bede Burn an attenuation basin to store run-off water during storms will be created.

The scheme will have wider social and environmental benefit, encouraging local people and children involved in creating valuable new habitat.

The scheme is largely funded by the Environment Agency, as well as a contribution from the local levy – which is money raised by local authorities for flood projects.

Leila Huntington, Flood Risk Manager for the Environment Agency in the North East, said:

This is an excellent example of partners working together to not only develop a scheme which reduces the risk of surface water flooding but also creates valuable habitat and a space for the community to enjoy.

We’ve been working with the council and Tyne Rivers Trust to raise awareness of the importance of understanding flood risk and taking care of their environment and there’ll be opportunities for the community to get involved. This is something they really can be proud of.

Liz Walters, Project Manager at Tyne Rivers Trust added:

This is a great example of using environmentally friendly ways to reduce the risk of flooding. As part of the project we’ll be working with the local community and schools to create a green space for local residents to enjoy as well as creating new habitats for wildlife.

Anyone who’d like to volunteer to help with planting at Bede Burn should get in touch with Tyne Rivers Trust on 01434 636904.

The latest information on the scheme can be found at the Monkton Flood Alleviation Scheme website