Support for future school leaders and development opportunities for talented teachers were on the agenda as School Standards Minister Nick Gibb visited Greater Manchester for the launch of a government funded programme to help schools in areas of greatest need.

The Schools Minister attended All Saints Catholic College in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, for the formal launch of Teach First’s two-year ‘Leading Together’ programme – which is funded through the Department for Education’s £75 million Teaching & Leadership Innovation Fund.

The announcement is part of the government’s drive to support teachers’ development and attract the best and brightest recruits into the teaching profession.

Following the launch, the Schools Minister took part in a roundtable discussion on the benefits of leadership opportunities in schools with local headteachers and Russell Hobby, Chief Executive of Teach First.

Thanks to a hardworking and incredibly talented generation of teachers, alongside the government’s bold reforms, there are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

There are now a record number of teachers in our schools – 15,500 more than in 2010 – but we want to build on this and help schools attract and keep the best and brightest people working in our schools.

Last week the Education Secretary announced a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers, working with the unions and professional bodies, and we’ve been consulting on how to improve development opportunities for teachers, whether they decide to move into a leadership role or want to continue teaching in the classroom.

This programme from Teach First is one of thousands of new training opportunities that we have created through our £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund, supporting schools in the areas of greatest need to help nurture the leaders of tomorrow. It was a pleasure to hear school leaders speak so enthusiastically about our plans to raise the status of the teaching profession.

Teach First’s programme is designed to offer staff at schools in areas of disadvantage the skills and support they need to succeed and deliver improvements for pupils’ education – at no cost to the school.

Teach First CEO Russell Hobby said:

I’m pleased that we launched the Leading Together programme with the Schools Minister at All Saints Catholic College today. We heard from headteachers at the event about the importance of effective leadership for good schools.

Too often schools in disadvantaged areas miss out on the support they need to build their leadership teams. Thanks to generous support from the Department for Education we’re working in partnership with exactly these schools to help them succeed.

The programme was among those earmarked last year to receive a share of the £75 million Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund. These projects will help provide tailored training opportunities for teachers on both managing challenging pupil behaviour and developing leadership, so they can make the most of their talent in the classroom.

Today’s ministerial visit follows the recent confirmation of a number of other government measures to improve development opportunities for great teachers, whether they decide to move into a leadership role or want to continue teaching in the classroom. These include:

• The commitment to invest £42 million in a Teacher Development Premium pilot to enable teachers and leaders working in areas of greatest need to access high quality professional development, and drive school improvement; and
• The introduction of the new, strengthened national professional qualifications, as well as a £10 million fund to support teachers in the areas that need it most.

These measures will be boosted by the Education Secretary’s recent announcement of a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers, working with the unions and professional bodies.

Mr. Chairman,

It is with great regret that I take the floor today to inform the Permanent Council of deeply concerning events that have taken place in the UK over the past days.

On the afternoon of Sunday 4 March, in the beautiful cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, a father and his daughter, Sergey and Julia Skripal, were taken gravely ill whilst walking through the city centre. Both remain critically ill. A British police officer who was among members of the emergency services responding to the incident also fell seriously ill and has spent the past days in hospital in intensive care. More than 30 other people have also sought medical treatment As the nature of the Skripals’ illness became clear, a major police-led operation sought to identify the poison, locate its source and decontaminate the affected locations and ensure the safety of the public. That operation, and those investigations are ongoing.

As the Prime Minister told the British Parliament, it is clear that Mr. Skripal and his daughter had been poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent. I repeat, a military-grade nerve agent.

This agent has been identified by our experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, as a type developed in Russia, part of a group of agents known as Novichok. On Monday, my Prime Minister told Parliament that it was highly likely that Russia, a participating State of the OSCE, was responsible.

Either as a direct act – or because Russia had lost control of a catastrophically damaging military-grade nerve agent.

This assessment was based not only on the positive identification of the nerve agent and our knowledge that the Russian Federation has previously produced this agent and still has the capability to do so, but also on the Russian state’s record of state sponsored assassinations, and indeed, public statements indicating that defectors may be seen as legitimate targets.

The British Government sought an urgent explanation from Russia, asking Moscow for immediate and full disclosure of the Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Russia’s response so far has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events. There has been no explanation of how this nerve agent came to be used in the UK. And no explanation as to why Russia, a participating State of the OSCE, has an undeclared Chemical Weapon programme – in clear contravention of international law. There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable for this heinous act. This represents an unlawful use of force by the Russian Federation in the UK.

Mr. Chairman, I need hardly remind the Permanent Council that no state party which has committed to the Chemical Weapons Convention should in any way be linked to, or responsible for, the use of Chemical Weapons. Indeed, only one week ago, Russia reported in the FSC the destruction of historic Chemical Weapon stocks. Events of the last week cast significant doubt on that statement.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is not the only international commitment brought into question by this attack, the first offensive use of nerve agent of any sort on European Territory since the Second World War.

This was a grotesque crime, that not only targeted individuals in a particularly barbaric way, but which was perpetrated without regard to the safety of the British emergency services or indeed to local residents and visitors going about their ordinary lives on a Sunday afternoon. I repeat Mr. Chairman, this was an unlawful use of force against the UK.

But it is not simply a bilateral matter. This crime violates the letter and spirit of the Helsinki Final Act. It damages the concept of confidence building this organisation strives to develop. And it undermines the principles on which this organisation is founded.

No participating State of the OSCE should feel comfortable with what happened on the streets of Salisbury. No participating State.

Mr. Chairman, police investigations are ongoing, decontamination operations are ongoing and medical care for the victims of this attack is ongoing.

For now, allow me to express my thanks for the many messages of support from friends, allies and partners around this table and for the strong expressions of solidarity from many capitals represented here.

I will close echoing the words of my Prime Minister. This is an affront to the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. And an affront to the rules-based system on which we depend. We will work with our allies and partners to confront such actions wherever they threaten our security, at home and abroad.

Mr. Chairman, please attach this statement to the journal of the day.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is warning young Brits following in the footsteps of globe-trotting celebs not to fall foul of lesser-known local laws and customs, which could land them in serious trouble.

New research from the FCO shows that one third of 18 – 24 year olds (33%) will be influenced by celebrities when preparing for their holiday this Easter, with nearly one in three (30%) saying stars inspire their travel destination.

However, many of these destinations have more unusual and surprising rules than UK travellers are used to.

As most young Brits don’t have A-listers’ concierge support when planning trips abroad, the FCO is urging British people to be aware of local laws and customs in the destinations they are travelling to by reading up on Travel Advice – something that fewer than two fifths of young people (38%) currently do – if they want to avoid getting into trouble abroad.

FCO analysis of ONS data has found a significant increase in Brits travelling further afield than the traditional European trips, often to popular celebrity destinations that have stricter laws and customs than the UK. Visits to Sri Lanka are up more than a fifth (22%) and the UAE up more than a sixth (17%).

Jack White, celeb content director at Now magazine said:

We’ve all felt the pang of envy that comes from scrolling through a celebrity’s luxury holiday snaps on social media, but if you’re ever lucky enough to end up in Dubai or St Lucia it’s worth remembering different countries have different rules – and sometimes even the stars seem unaware of this.

It’s easy to get caught up the moment on holiday, so it’s worth researching the local laws beforehand to make sure your dream trip doesn’t end in disaster. After all, there’s definitely nothing glamorous about ending up behind bars!

The FCO recommends Brits making trips abroad this Easter join the 16 million people a year who check its Travel Advice before they travel. All sorts of local laws and customs are covered in the travel advice, including the 10 listed below:

1. UAE: Swearing and making rude gestures (including online) are considered obscene acts and offenders can be jailed or deported.

2. Thailand: You can’t bring vaporisers, such as e-cigarettes, e-baraku or refills into Thailand. These items are likely to be confiscated and you could be fined or sent to prison for up to ten years if convicted.

3. Greece: Indecent behaviour, including mooning, isn’t tolerated and could result in arrest and a fine or a prison sentence.

4. Sri Lanka: The mistreatment of Buddhist images and artefacts is a serious offence and tourists have been convicted for this. British nationals have been refused entry to Sri Lanka or faced deportation for having visible tattoos of Buddha. Don’t pose for photographs standing in front of a statue of Buddha.

5. Japan: The use or possession of some medicines like Vicks Inhalers or painkillers containing Codeine is banned in Japan and can result in detention and deportation

6. Turkey: It is an offence to insult the Turkish nation or the national flag, or to deface or tear up currency. If you are convicted of any of these offences, you could face a prison sentence of between six months and three years.

7. Caribbean: Many Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia ban the wearing of camouflage clothing, including by children.

8. Spain: Causing a forest fire is treated as a criminal offence in Spain even if unintentional.

9. Australia: Australia has strict quarantine rules to keep out pests and diseases that could affect plant, animal and human health. Breaches of quarantine regulations can result in large fines.

10. Ukraine: Smoking and drinking alcoholic drinks in public places (including transport, bus stops, underground crossings, sports and government establishments, playgrounds and parks) is officially banned.

Julia Longbottom, FCO Consular Director said:

It’s great to see the British people being inspired to travel to new and exciting places. This makes it all the more important to follow our Travel Advice and respect local laws and customs to avoid unnecessary trouble. For instance, e-cigarettes are banned in Thailand and can result in a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Even in places closer to home, disrespecting local laws can have serious consequences – in Greece indecent behaviour, such as mooning, can be punishable with a fine or even a prison sentence. We see many cases each year of people breaking local laws and customs.

It is important that our travellers understand that the UK Government can’t give legal advice or get them out of prison. Instead, we want to do all we can to help British people stay safe when they are travelling, and avoid ending up in these difficult situations.

For more information and to find out about local laws and customs in destinations around the world, visit the FCO’s travel advice pages.

Further information

Captain Matt Tovey, Senior Officer representing Royal Anglians (left) Rob Thompson, Defence Attaché, British Embassy salute in front of the Royal Anglians, Crown Copyright, All rights reserved

Updated rules to strengthen the government’s powers to scrutinise takeovers that may raise national security concerns in specific areas of the economy will be introduced to Parliament today (15 March 2018).

Under current rules, the government can only intervene in mergers when they meet certain tests related to the target company’s turnover or where the merger causes an increase in the parties’ overall share of supply of goods or services.

However, these rules do not properly recognise the growing importance of small British businesses in developing cutting edge technology products which can have national security applications.

In order to address this change in the market, the government will amend the tests for businesses in the military, dual-use, computing hardware and quantum technology sectors that are most likely to have implications for our security.

Today’s rule change will remove the requirement for a merger to lead to an increase in the share of supply. In the coming weeks the government will introduce complementary measures to lower the test for ministerial intervention in relation to the target business’s turnover to over £1 million, down from £70 million under current rules. Both are subject to Parliament’s approval.

Business Minister Richard Harrington said:

Around 75,000 new jobs were created in the UK last year thanks to foreign investment. However, our economy can only thrive if our national security is protected, so it is right that we keep our powers of intervention under review to ensure the rules keep pace with innovation.

These new measures will allow us to ensure that takeovers in key areas of the economy cannot risk the UK’s national security whilst maintaining our position as one of the most open and modern economies in the world.

The changes follow a consultation launched last year to amend the Enterprise Act to reform and strengthen the government’s powers. Today’s rule changes are the first step in its plans – broader changes will be announced in a white paper later this year.

The government has also published draft guidance for businesses so they can easily identify and adapt to the changes to legislation.

1. The National Security and Infrastructure Investment Review green paper, published on 17 October 2017, outlined the government’s plans to take a staged approach through short and long term measures to reform how it scrutinises national security implications of business transactions. Today’s measures are a response to this consultation on amending the Enterprise Act through secondary legislation.

   National security and infrastructure investment review with Part 1 government response and draft guidance

2. The consultation on longer term proposals closed on 9 January. The government will publish a response to this consultation in due course.

3. Under the current Enterprise Act 2002 ministers can intervene in mergers (foreign or domestic) that give rise to specific public interest concerns of national security, financial stability or media plurality. However, for ministers to be able to intervene, the transaction has to meet certain thresholds. These are that the target company has a UK turnover of over £70 million, or that the merger takes the merging parties’ combined share of supply to 25% or more (or increases an existing share of supply of 25% or more). There are limited exceptions to this related to some defence and media transactions.

4. The affirmative statutory instrument introduced today amends the share of supply test to allow the scrutiny of more mergers in three areas: (a) the military and dual-use sector, (b) 2 parts of the advanced technology sector, encompassing computing hardware and quantum technologies. For these areas alone, this instrument amends the share of supply test so that it is met where a merger or takeover involves a target with 25% or more share of supply in the UK, as well as where the deal leads to an increase in the share of supply to, or above, this threshold, which is the current requirement.

5. Subject to Parliamentary approval being obtained for this affirmative instrument, a second, negative statutory instrument will be laid to amend the turnover test to allow the scrutiny of more mergers in the same 3 areas of the economy. The second instrument will lower the threshold over which the target business’s UK turnover must be, from over £70 million to £1 million. We intend that both instruments would come into force at the same time, subject to scrutiny of the House.

6. The changes, whilst made for national security-related reasons, will also amend the thresholds that allow the independent Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scrutinise merger for competition concerns. However, neither the government or the CMA expect that the changes will bring about a material change in the CMA’s approach to the assessment of mergers on competition grounds.