Press release: PM call with US President Trump: 10 April 2017

Theresa May tonight spoke with US President Trump to discuss last week’s chemical weapons attack in Syria and the US response.

The President thanked the Prime Minister for her support in the wake of last week’s US military action against the Assad regime.

The Prime Minister and the President agreed that a window of opportunity now exists in which to persuade Russia that its alliance with Assad is no longer in its strategic interest.

They agreed that US Secretary of State Tillerson’s visit to Moscow this week provides an opportunity to make progress towards a solution which will deliver a lasting political settlement.

They also discussed the broader Middle East, including the threat posed by Iran throughout the region.

The Prime Minister and President also stressed the importance of the international community, including China, putting pressure on North Korea to constrain the threat it poses.



Malala Yousafzai designated youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace

10 April 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today designated children’s rights activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai as a UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education.

“You have been to the most difficult places […] visited several refugee camps. Your foundation has schools in Lebanon, in the Beka’a Valley,” said Mr. Guterres at a ceremony in the Trusteeship Council chamber at UN Headquarters, in New York.

“[You are a] symbol of perhaps the most important thing in the world, education for all,” he highlighted.

Ms. Yousafzai, who was shot in 2012 by the Taliban for attending classes, is the youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace and the first one to be designated by Secretary-General Guterres since he assumed office in January this year.

Accepting the accolade, Ms. Yousafzai underscored the importance of education, especially education of girls, for advancing communities and societies.

“[Bringing change] starts with us and it should start now,” she said, adding: “If you want to see your future bright, you have to start working now [and] not wait for anyone else.”

UN Messengers of Peace are distinguished individuals, carefully selected from the fields of art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the global Organization.

Backed by the highest honour bestowed by the Secretary-General on a global citizen, these prominent personalities volunteer their time, talent and passion to raise awareness of UN’s efforts to improve the lives of billions of people everywhere.

If you speak out, you can help people – UN Messenger of Peace Malala

Following the official presentation, Secretary-General Guterres and Ms. Yousafzai conversed with youth representatives from around the world on the theme of girls’ education.

Taking a question from a young speaker in the audience, Ms. Yousafzai said the most difficult time she faced had been from 2007 to 2009 in the Swat Valley, “because we were at a point of making a decision about whether to speak out or remain silent. And I realized that if you remain silent, you are still going to be terrorized. So speaking out, you can help people.”

While recovering from the Taliban attack, she realized that “extremists tried everything to stop me [and the fact that they didn’t] is clear evidence that no one can stop me. I have second life for the purpose of education and I’ll continue working on [this issue].

Ms. Yousafazi went on to say that brothers and fathers must also support women and girls in the global effort to ensure education for all and, more importantly, “be who they want to be.” Indeed, she has that her father always told people not to ask him what he did for Malala, ‘but as what I didn’t do – I didn’t clip her wings.’

Summing up the conversation, Mr. Guterrers called Ms. Yousafzai’s life “a remarkable example of solidarity.” Yet, he said, Pakistan was also such an example. “We live in a world where so many borders closed; so many doors are closed, but Pakistan has received seven million refugees with open borders, open doors and hearts – open a symbol of generosity.” He hoped this spirit could serve as an example that “it is not by closing doors that we will all be able to move forward.”



News story: Accounts filing options for small companies

Small companies

If you’re a small company you now have the following 3 options for filing your accounts:

Micro-entity accounts

You must meet at least 2 of the following

  • turnover is no more than £632,000
  • balance sheet total is no more than £316,000
  • average number of employees is no more than 10

Abridged accounts

You must meet at least 2 of the following:

  • turnover is no more than £10.2 million
  • balance sheet total is no more than £5.1 million
  • average number of employees is no more than 50

Full accounts with Companies House and HMRC

These joint accounts are suitable for small companies who are audit exempt and wish to file full accounts to both Companies House and HMRC. You can also file your tax return with HMRC at the same time.

Dormant company accounts

These accounts are suitable for companies limited by shares or by guarantee that have never and can be filed using our WebFiling Service.

Micro-entity accounts:

To file micro-entity accounts you need to sign-in to our WebFiling service and choose the micro-entity accounts type.

Abridged accounts:

We are constructing a replacement service for WebFiling that will enable you to file abridged accounts to Companies House. This is expected to be launched by the end of the summer 2017.

During the transitional period there are two options for you to consider:

  1. Use the Companies House-HMRC joint filing service:

This will require signing up for a Government Gateway account, or using your existing credentials to sign in. You can file your tax return to HMRC at the same time.

Visit HMRC to use the joint filing accounts service.

  1. Use third party software

The service is available to everyone but mostly benefits those who file frequently – on a daily or weekly basis. The more documents you file, the more appropriate software filing is likely to be.

View our list of approved software providers.

We’ve updated our accounts guidance.



Speech: Science and Innovation – Impact of the Newton-Picarte Fund in Chile

Thank you for joining us today to celebrate the impact of the Newton-Picarte fund in Chile and the contribution of the British Council.

The Newton Fund was created by the UK Government in 2014. A total of £735m has been invested by the Government to work with 15 countries up until 2021. In South America our partner countries are Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. The objective of the fund is to encourage science and innovation collaboration between the UK and developing economies, supporting their socio-economic development. The Newton Fund is part of the UK´s Official Development Assistance (ODA). A key characteristic of the fund, which distinguishes it from other UK Government ODA funding, is that partner countries provide match funding, thereby creating a partnership in which both countries are investing equal resources.

Since its official in-country launch in August 2014, through the signing of the MOU between Minister Cespedes and myself, representing the Ministry of Economy and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy respectively, I am pleased to say that the Newton-Picarte Fund has helped to firmly position the UK as one of Chile’s leading science and innovation partners.

Through the Newton-Picarte fund in Chile we have been able to finance collaboration across the scientific spectrum with programmes in key sectors such as agriculture, engineering, natural and social sciences and medical and health research – in total more than 200 initiatives. More importantly the fund has been the vehicle through which UK and Chilean researchers and universities have been able to establish partnerships, which we hope will continue for the long term.

The great success of the Newton fund can largely be attributed to the excellent work carried out by the British and Chilean Delivery Partners, who jointly have been in charge of designing, implementing and managing the programmes. The British Council, due to its presence in Chile, has been one of our closest allies in strengthening Chile’s scientific and innovative excellence, developing advanced human capital, mobility and networking, through programmes such as Institutional Skills Development and the Communication Skills Workshop.

Chile is expected to graduate from the OECD DAC list of ODA recipient countries this year, with retrospective effect from 1 January 2017, after exceeding the high income country threshold in 2012 and 2013. Consequently the priorities and objectives of the UK-Chile Newton partnership will change to focus on global development challenges and those facing other developing countries, as opposed to Chile’s own development challenges.

This year we will launch four activities which reflect this new focus – broadening the impact of joint British and Chilean research to benefit developing countries. These will be the final bilateral Newton programmes, which we will launch in Chile. In future years Chile will continue to be involved in regional Newton fund programmes, one of which we hope to launch this year on biodiversity. Please do ask our Embassy science team, Francisco and Alvaro, as well as British Council colleagues, if you would like more information.

Chile is a part of the Science and Innovation Network (UK SINet) of the UK Government. UKSINet is a network of around 90 officers in more than 30 countries in the world, that build links and collaborations in science and innovation in each country. Francisco is in charge of leading this work here in Chile, which reflects the importance that the UK Government places on our relations with Chile in science and innovation.

The Newton Picarte fund has enabled the UK to develop a relationship with Chile which is delivering significant impact. We are grateful to the British Council and to all of you for your help in making the fund such a success and we look forward to building on that success with you in the future. Because science and innovation is important for our economies, our societies and for the world.



National policies can offset impact of joblessness caused by market competition – UN partner report

10 April 2017 – Trade and trade-related policies have a role to play not just in promoting growth and prosperity, but helping share that prosperity more widely, United Nations global finance partners said today, launching a report that calls on national governments to pursue policies that help those who might lose their jobs, one of the unintended consequences of trade integration.

Trade leads to productivity gains and significant benefits for consumers, especially the poor, but can also be responsible for job displacement that must be addressed through sound domestic policies that can help the unemployed get back on their feet, say economists from the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

“I recognize that there are very real concerns, but the answer is not to turn against trade, which would harm us all,” says the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo.

Economists from the three global organizations reflect in the report on the latter part of the 20th century, arguing that trade integration helped drive economic growth in advanced and developing economies through greater productivity, increased competition resulting in higher living standards and more choices and better prices for consumers.

Looking back, “trade has had a very positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of many millions of people in recent decades,” says Mr. Azevêdo.

The report notes that job losses in certain sectors or regions in advanced economies have resulted to a large extent from technological changes rather than from trade.

According to Mr Azevêdo the “challenge before us is to support the workers of today and train the workers of tomorrow.”

The organizations call on national governments to pursue both “active” and “passive” labour market policies such as training programmes, job search assistance and wage insurance (a private insurance providing compensation if one is forced to move to a job with a lower salary) to facilitate reintegration of the unemployed back into the job market.

The organizations also call on governments to stabilize unemployed working families with short term passive labour market programmes, such as unemployment benefits and income support until those who have lost their jobs can get back to work.

Effective education and skills policies will be essential in preparing workers for the changing demands of the modern economy, they add.

RELATED: World’s jobless numbers to rise amid economic uncertainty, growing inequality – UN labour report

The report also calls for further trade integration to strengthen global growth and advance an inclusive trading environment.

It stresses that traditional areas such as agriculture need further attention, while sectors such as services, as well as digital trade, represent areas where further trade reform can make a particularly strong contribution to growth.