Scottish Secretary David Mundell visited Peterhead fish market this morning (Monday 10 December) and announced that the UK Government will table an amendment to legislation which will enshrine its commitment to secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for UK fishermen.

Mr Mundell also announced £37.2m of extra funding to boost the UK fishing industry during the Implementation Period. Scotland’s share of this funding would be £16.4 million.

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:

It is absolutely essential Brexit delivers for Scottish fishermen and for those in the rest of the UK. It is clear they want to leave the Common Fisheries Policy and do not want any future deal with the EU to link access to our fishing grounds to our access to European markets.

This change to the Fisheries Bill creates a watertight commitment to getting the best possible deal for Scotland’s fishermen and their communities and should give them a great deal of confidence about the future.

The extra funding announced today will also help support our fishermen over the implementation period. These announcements are great news for Scotland and will help the sector as it gets ready to take full advantage of the many benefits leaving the EU will have for our fishermen.

The move strengthens the Fisheries Bill to ensure the whole of the UK’s fishing industry prospers as we become an independent coastal state.

The amendment would place a legal obligation on Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to pursue a fairer share of fishing opportunities than the UK currently receives under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

This is in addition to the existing European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) funding, which at €243m over seven years is broadly equivalent to £32m a year. The Government and Devolved Administrations have already committed to match the EMFF funding with around £60m, so the extra funding will support more projects and the sector will benefit by a total of £320m.

Mr Gove has also committed that the Government will put in place new, domestic, long-term arrangements to support the UK’s fishing industry from 2021, through the creation of four new schemes comparable to EMFF to deliver funding for each nation. The Devolved Administrations will lead on their own schemes.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove:

We are taking back control of our waters and will secure a fairer share of fishing opportunities for the whole of the UK fishing industry as we leave the EU. The amendment to the Fisheries Bill will give legal weight to this commitment.

New funding will boost the industry as we become an independent coastal state, preparing it to receive a greater share of future fishing opportunities.

The new schemes will be introduced after EMFF has closed in 2020. Details of these will be set at the 2019 Spending Review.

It is the MAA’s vision to be a ‘world class military air safety regulatory and assurance organization…’. The achievement of this vision is through 5 strategic outcomes; strategic outcome 4 specifically identifies that the MAA aims to be “…acknowledged by all [UK Defence Air Environment (DAE) and aviation regulators worldwide] as being at the forefront of air safety thinking and sustained in that position through sharing good practice”.

The MAA has developed a number of key conditions which are aimed at achieving the strategic outcomes, and the key condition to satisfy strategic outcome 4 requires the MAA to have recognition from and of others, cooperation across the entire DAE and a strong reputation.

Director General Defence Safety Authority has highlighted recognition as a main activity within the organisation, citing the cost benefits and influence it can deliver, as well as the requirement to expand activity further in this area. For the MAA, success in this area will only be realised if the recognition activity is adequately prioritised and resourced at an appropriate level with the authority to exert that influence.

Currently, the recognition activity is led through the MAA Regulation Division primarily as a secondary duty and in support of International Engagement. With the rising prominence of Recognition activity and to deliver maximum benefit against this Strategic Outcome, it has been decided that international engagement and recognition (IE&R) activity should be resourced and conducted at the appropriate level and be devolved from conflicting Regulation Division priorities and responsibilities.

Recognising the benefits of IE&R activity, in 2008 the MAA committed to the European Defence Agency (EDA) to participate in the Military Airworthiness Authorities (MAWA) Forum and associated Task Forces (TF), which have been latterly transformed into Advisory Groups (AG), to develop common regulatory, certification and oversight processes. Early engagement was ad-hoc in nature, with activity not fully co-ordinated. Since this time, MAA IE&R influence has continued to grow amongst our international colleagues.

With the outcome of the UK/EU Referendum, the MAA participation within the European framework is under scrutiny across the MAWA community and wider afield. For the MAA to retain any credibility and influence within the various Forums, it is important for the MAA to be seen as a committed force to be reckoned with. This 1 star (1*) led forum requires representation at the appropriate level, with consistency to ensure continued participation. A number of options were considered in terms of how the IE&R activity could be resourced and the agreed way forward from the MAA Executive Board, was for IE&R to be split from Regulations and be established as a pillar in its own right. MAA IE&R will be headed-up by a Civil Service B1 and supported by 2 full time personnel. MAA–IE&R-DepHd will report to MAA-Reg-Cert Hd as shown as follows:

Since the MAA first embarked on recognition of other national Military Aviation Authorities in 2011, which commenced with the French Authority Direction de la Sécurité Aéronautique d’État (DSAE), the MAA has subsequently conducted recognition of the German Authority Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr (LufABw), the Italian Authority Direzione Armamenti Aeronautica e per L’Aeronavigabilitià (DAAA) and the Spanish Authority Direccion Genreal de Armamento y Material (DGAM). The MAA has also been recognised by the Portuguese Authority Autorisade Aeronautica Nacional (AAN).

Further afield, the MAA has recognised the Australian Authority Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) and has recently renewed the recognition of the 3 Services Regulators in the USA: United States Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center – Aviation Engineering Directorate (AMRDEC-AED), United States Navy Airworthiness Directorate (NAVAIR 4.0) and United States Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Engineering Directorate (AFLCMC EN-EZ).

The Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Delivery Teams responsible for: A400M, Apache, Chinook, Lightning II, Poseidon MRA Mk 1, Typhoon and Voyager will be able to take benefit from the Recognition activity conducted by the MAA.

IE&R activity is an important deliverable in support of the MAA’s vision to be a world class military Air Safety regulatory and assurance organization that is proactive, innovative, modern, efficient and effective. IE&R activity enables the:

• sharing of best practice, to influence the development of our own and other National MAA’s regulation
• UK MAA to lead on the development of International Joint regulation, standards and practices within external agencies and bodies particularly with NATO
• re-use of Certification Artefacts and Organizational Approvals from other nations, saving the UK defence industry resource in terms of manpower, time and budget
• MAA to horizon scan and hence pro-actively react to emerging technology and broader programme influences

At this critical juncture in our country’s history, Brexit dominates, especially in Parliament and the media.

So it is easy to forget the other challenges facing the UK, challenges which have just as big an impact on people’s lives and which will continue long after we have left the EU.

Back in 2010, one of those biggest challenges was unemployment. With 2.5 million people without a job, and more redundancies on the way as the financial crisis continued to bite.

Since then, jobs growth has been the biggest success story of the UK economy – creating 3.3 million new jobs as many EU countries struggled with spiralling unemployment with millions of young people being shut out of a job all together.

And today we can say that 2018 has been the best year ever for the UK jobs market. In 2018 we have broken 18 employment records.

From our highest ever employment rate and more people in work than ever before, to record low redundancies and youth unemployment. From record numbers of women, older workers and those from ethnic minority backgrounds in work, to record low gender and ethnic minority pay gaps.

There are fewer households where no-one works than ever before, and fewer children growing up in a workless home. Two years on from the Brexit referendum, the UK jobs market is smashing expectations.

This progress actually matters to people. The prospects of a better future that comes with having a job, knowing that your job is secure, and seeing your wages rise above inflation – as they have in the UK this year.

One of the 18 records we hit this year was having more people than ever before in full-time work, 23.9 million of them, with almost 2.6 million more than in 2010.

Any employer knows that creating a new full-time role is a big investment. But with policies designed to support business, employers have the confidence to make those investments in jobs – over 400,000 in the last year alone.

If, as a result of the Brexit vote in Parliament, MPs create uncertainty about our country’s future direction, suddenly those investments will be harder to make. Or worse, businesses may look to cut back on spending and make redundancies. We may have broken 18 employment records in 2018, but our jobs boost could become a jobs bust.

No surprise then that employers, large and small, and groups representing business like the Federation of Small Businesses and the Confederation of British Industry, have warned against a no-deal Brexit and backed the government’s Brexit deal.

I also back the deal. That is because I, like them, see a compromise that works. Not a no-deal that cuts some of our most important trade links, or a second referendum that would open our divisions even further.

There are those, including in Parliament, who dismiss the views of business. That is a mistake. Look at another of our 18 records – private sector employment at an all-time high of over 27 million, with over 380,000 more jobs in the last year alone.

More people in the UK work in the private sector than ever before. Those companies support the government’s deal because they know it protects their business, without blocking the possible benefits of Brexit like new trade links.

Some may see opportunity in chaos, but employers do not. Create uncertainty, push back Brexit, seek to harden it or stop it all together and you risk the stable economy that has delivered so many employment records. A strong economy we have worked together so hard to deliver.

It is right that MPs debate Brexit ahead of the big vote and everyone gets a chance to have their say. But, when MPs decide whether to back the deal or not, I hope my colleagues on all sides will listen to the employers of this country and deliver the only deal which gives them the certainty they need to make 2019 another record-breaker. And that is the government’s Brexit deal.

New statistics released last week reveal that British businesses are already benefiting from the ability to trade freely with Canada without paying any duties at Canadian customs.

UK exports of goods to Canada have increased by 13.7% to £6.15 billion in the last 12 months since a new free trade agreement was introduced.

The growth in exports coincides with the provisional implementation of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in September 2017.

It is a significant increase when compared to the 5 years prior to the agreement being introduced, which saw annual trade increase by an average of just 3.9%.

CETA is one of the most extensive EU free trade agreements to date and removes 98% of export duties that are currently in place.

The food and drink industry was previously subject to tariffs of up to 11% but these have now been reduced to zero in most cases.

Meanwhile, auto tariffs are being reduced from 6.1% down to zero over several years so the British motor industry is expected to benefit even more in the years ahead.

Meat exports to Canada increased by 36.3% last year to £2.8m and wine exports grew by 16.6% to £1.75 million.

A significant proportion of UK exports pass through Liverpool Port, which account for 77% meat exports and 47% of wine exports. The city is a major gateway to Canada thanks to its strategic location and its importance is expected to grow even further as a result to a £400 million expansion project.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

The rapid growth in UK exports to Canada is great news for British people, who are already seeing how our free trade agenda can help to create jobs, boost economic growth and provide more choice for consumers.

CETA is one of the most ambitious free trade agreements and it will eliminate almost every tariff on goods between our two nations, giving a boost to a range of British businesses from our motor industry to our brewers and distillers.

We are committed to transitioning this deal into UK law after we leave the EU and the Department for International Trade is on hand to help even more British businesses establish a strong foothold in the Canadian market.

CETA was formally ratified by the UK last month and has the potential to boost UK GDP by hundreds of millions of pounds in the long-run and create jobs for British and Canadian workers. It has so far been ratified by 12 countries and it will come fully into force once all EU members have ratified it.

The UK and Canadian Prime Ministers have both committed to seeking to seamlessly transition CETA into a bilateral deal that will allow UK and Canadian companies to enjoy as free and frictionless trade as possible after the UK leaves the European Union.

RAF Typhoons launched from RAF Lossiemouth this morning for the first time with the Meteor Air-to-Air missile in defence of UK airspace during a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission.

This event represents the culmination of many years of research, development and testing to bring this advanced weapon into service on front-line aircraft.

RAF Typhoons maintain a constant state of readiness to defend the sovereignty of British skies. The introduction of Meteor brings a new and innovative long-range capability and further enhances Typhoon’s already potent arsenal. This year they have been scrambled for a variety of incidents including intercepting Russian bombers approaching UK airspace.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

This latest missile system demonstrates the next chapter of the Typhoon which will see the jet evolve its ability to target and destroy any airborne threat at great distances. The Meteor missile will provide an unrelenting deterrence to those who wish harm upon the UK and our Armed Forces.

The RAF’s prized Typhoon Force is unquestionably now the cornerstone of British and NATO military power. It has proved itself in combat roles over Libya, Iraq and Syria, protecting UK skies and overseas territories, and providing critical support to our NATO Allies in Eastern Europe.

Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier said:

RAF Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon fighters are now armed with the most advanced Air to Air missile in the world, the MBDA developed ramjet powered Meteor. Another huge leap forward in capability for the Typhoon Force, which is proud to continue defending the UK and our allies, 24/7.

The missile system is a worthy investment as it can fly in any weather condition, perform against all current and known future threats; including combat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles/missiles and will eventually operate from the F-35 Lightning aircraft. Crucially, the Meteor and launch aircraft will be networked by a datalink ensuring highly accurate and intelligent air strikes.

The pilot flying the first Meteor equipped Typhoon said:

The responsibility of flying such a capable platform, armed with this formidable weapon is immense, but the options this gives us in responding to an emergency situation cannot be understated.

Meteor is a state of the art complex weapon developed by a six nation European partnership led by the UK. It is built and manufactured by MBDA in Stevenage and has created 430 jobs across the country.

The RAF will continue to develop the missile through life, in-step with our International Defence and Industrial partners, supporting the UK Aerospace Industry, while maintaining the UK’s sovereign ‘capability edge’.