• UK stresses Daesh’s continued threat on Syria and Iraq and urges that perpetrators face justice.

Remarks by Ambassador Jonathan Allen at Security Council briefing, 10 February 2021

I join others in condemning this morning’s attack on 26 UN peacekeepers from Togo serving in the MINUSMA mission in Mali. We wish all those injured a swift and complete recovery.

As the Secretary-General’s report underscores, Daesh continues to pose a global threat. Despite territorial losses, the group remains able to inflict deadly harm in Syria and Iraq. We are concerned particularly by the IDP camps highlighted by the Secretary-General’s report. The United Kingdom facilitates the return of unaccompanied or orphaned children on a case-by-case basis and subject to national security concerns. But those who have fought for or supported Daesh should face justice for their crimes in the most appropriate jurisdiction – often where those crimes were committed.

Further afield, we’re concerned about Daesh’s presence worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Its online recruitment and incitement must also be tackled. The United Kingdom remains an active member of the Global Coalition against Daesh. We co-lead coalition efforts to tackle the propaganda threat.

At the United Nations level, the United Kingdom will continue to advocate for increasing focus on preventing terrorists’ misuse of the internet and aviation security, as well as emerging threats beyond Daesh like right-wing terrorism. We will also emphasise the need to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law while countering terrorism, and will prioritise prevention and whole-of-society approaches.

I want to conclude by associating myself with the comments of the representative of France in defence of the White Helmets. We’re used to hearing these slurs in our Syria debates and have responded in those meetings. It’s rather sad to hear it raised in a serious debate on counter-terrorism.

Every school in the country will have greater access to expert teacher training and development, under plans announced by the Department for Education today.

The teaching workforce will get best-practice and expert advice on how best to engage with pupils, lesson planning, and classroom management, as part of new teaching school hubs being rolled out across the country.

81 Hubs will be added in all corners of England to provide high-quality professional development to teachers and leaders at all stages of their career, and play a key role in helping to build up trainee teachers as they enter the workforce. This will further level up the quality of teaching, allowing every child to receive a world-class start in life no matter where they are born.

Each hub, all of which will be operational and helping schools from this September, will have its own defined geographical patch and will be expected to be accessible to all schools within that area, serving on average around 250 schools each.

The programme is being rolled out as teachers continue to deliver high quality remote education for pupils, with the current attendance restrictions in schools and colleges remaining in place until 8 March at the earliest.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said:

We know teachers are already providing the best education possible for pupils, and this is especially true while schools are closed to most pupils. These new Teaching School Hubs will further support the profession by providing the best possible training and development opportunities.

It is important that teachers and school leaders feel supported in their career. The Hubs will make this substantially easier, with expert practitioners able to give experienced advice to those schools able to benefit from it.

There will be 87 hubs for teacher training and development, built around some of the best schools and Multi Academy Trusts in England. This comes from £65m of new funding, with the Hubs set to run for an initial three years.

The 81 new hubs will be rolled out in addition to the six existing test & learn TSH which were appointed in January 2020. This means there will be nationwide coverage for the first time, and every school in England will now have access to a local centre of excellence for teacher training.

The Hubs will also help in delivering the Early Career Framework reforms when this is available nationally from September 2021, as well as in delivering a reformed suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) including new specialist NPQs. They will also deliver Initial Teaching Training and additional high-quality evidence based professional development.

Richard Gill, Teaching School Council Chair, said:

The Teaching Schools Council congratulates all 81 schools and/or trusts which have been designated as a teaching school hub. They will now join the existing 6 ‘test and learn’ hubs that were announced in January 2020 to form a national network of excellence in teacher training and development.

The work of the TSC has been instrumental in supporting this programme to date and we are proud to be the sector body that will continue to be a key partner in these reforms.

The Department has committed to improving support and professional development for teachers at all stages of their career, particularly for those in their vital first few years of teaching, through the Early Career Framework reforms.

A reformed suite of NPQs, previously announced in 2019 as part of the Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy, will also be launched from September 2021. This will ensure these qualifications continue to offer the best possible support to teachers and leaders wanting to expand their knowledge and skills.

It is five weeks since we set ourselves the target of vaccinating almost 15 million of the most vulnerable people in the country, and the aim was – and is – clear to everyone.

By offering the prospect of protection from Covid to everyone 70 and over, to all frontline NHS and care staff, to older care home residents and staff and to all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, we can do the most, the fastest, to reduce the incidence of death and serious illness.

And, with less than a week to go until the target date of Monday 15th, there is no doubt that we have made great strides, with just over 13 million people now vaccinated in our United Kingdom, including 1 in 4 adults in England, over 90 per cent of everyone over 75 and over 90 per cent of eligible residents of care homes for the elderly.

But that still leaves nearly 2 million people – a population roughly twice the size of Birmingham – that we still hope to reach.

And there are people across the country who for one reason or another haven’t yet taken up their offer.

So now is the moment to do it, wherever you are – you won’t be more than about 10 miles away from a vaccination centre.

So, go online, or get someone to help you or simply pick up the phone and call 119.

And let me appeal to the fantastic social care workers we all rely on to look after our relatives, our parents and grandparents.

If you have not received a letter, please contact your employer and fix it up.

And let me stress that these vaccines are safe and effective, and it was good to see the World Health Organisation today confirm its support for the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine for use in everyone over the age of 18 and, obviously, anyone over 65, and also supporting the 12-week interval between the two doses. Indeed, they say the longer interval provides greater protection.

And the reason I make this appeal today, for people to come forward in those groups and get vaccinated, is not so we hit some numerical target, but to save lives, prevent serious illness, and so the whole country can take another step on a long and hard road back to normality.

And, as the data comes in, I’ll be saying more about that – including setting out the roadmap – over the next two weeks.

I think the people of this country absolutely understand the importance of protecting the most vulnerable first and that is what we are doing.

And, if we can keep the pace up and keep the supplies of vaccines up, we hope to reach everyone in cohorts 1 to 9 by the end of April.

And I want to thank all of those involved for their heroic efforts: the doctors, nurses, military medics, local authorities, transport planners, warehouse operatives, delivery drivers, countless volunteers, often working through the night or even digging out snowed-in vaccination centres, like the community effort at Alwoodley Medical Centre in Leeds last Saturday so GPs, nurses and their teams could deliver 1,200 doses that day.

And I want to thank the millions of people who have received their vaccinations and, with cases still high and the pressures on our NHS still severe, I want finally thank everyone, all of you who are continuing to follow the rules and urge you once again to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

Thank you.