Tim Farron announces election for deputy leader

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has set in train a deputy leadership election for the parliamentary party in the House of Commons.

Tim Farron said: “In the last parliament we didn’t have any women in our parliamentary party and we didn’t feel it was right to elect a deputy in those circumstances. But I wanted to revive the role as it gives the party another powerful voice and has helped give prominence to many of our notable MPs, including Ming Campbell, Simon Hughes and Vince Cable.

“Now a third of our parliamentary party is female and we have our most diverse group of MPs ever, I feel our MPs form a more representative group to elect a deputy leader. There is still much more work needed to make ourselves more like the nation we seek to represent, but this is a really positive time for our party after increasing our number of MPs by 50%.”

The position will be elected by Liberal Democrat MPs and will be announced before the end of the month.

The process for the election is as follows:
• Nominations were opened following a meeting of the parliamentary party on Monday 12 June.
• All MPs are eligible for the position and any MP wanting to put themselves forward for the position needs to secure the support of a proposer and seconder.
• Deadline for applications is 5pm on Tuesday 20 June.
• If there is only one candidate they will be formally appointed to the position on Tuesday 20 June.
• If there are two or more candidates then a hustings will take place at the parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday 27 June. Following the hustings the election will be decided through a secret ballot of MPs using the single transferable vote.
• Ben Stoneham, our Lords Chief Whip, will act as returning officer.

 



News story: 1,500 British troops exercising with NATO allies in Europe

The Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has today visited some of the 1,500 British personnel currently exercising across five countries in Europe, joining NATO allies in a sign of solidarity against any potential threat.

Sir Michael met with the troops in Romania, including the UK’s 20th Armoured Brigade as part of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force Land component, which the UK took the lead of in January this year. The approximately 500-strong British force have been deployed on Exercise Noble Jump, working alongside 14 partner nations and testing NATO’s ability to deploy forces quickly and in response to a crisis.

Elsewhere in Europe, a company of 45 Commando of the Royal Marines joined the US-led Sabre Strike exercise in Latvia and Lithuania, working alongside Norwegian and Polish forces. Troops from the Light Dragoons and amphibious engineers from 75 Engineer Regiment also joined the exercise in Poland while the Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup 5 Rifles exercised in Estonia.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

The UK is playing a leading role in the NATO alliance and with around 1,500 British personnel exercising in Europe this week, nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in this region. We are standing side by side with our allies in the East, a sign of our unwavering commitment to European security.

While in the country, Sir Michael is also visiting Royal Air Force personnel deployed to Romania as part of the NATO Southern Air Policing mission.

The detachment of four Typhoon fighter jets from 3 Fighter Squadron has been based in Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in south east Romania since May. Deployed for up to four months, they are working alongside the Romanian Air Force to police the skies over the Black Sea.

Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon added:

The UK is stepping up in its support for NATO’s collective defence from the north to the south of the alliance. Through this deployment, RAF planes will be ready to secure NATO airspace and provide reassurance to allies in the Black Sea region.

During his visit, Sir Michael toured the airbase and spoke with RAF personnel deployed on the Mission. The Defence Secretary also witnessed the fighter jets participate in a practice Quick Reaction Alert.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon visits some of the 1,500 British personnel currently exercising across five countries in Europe.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon visits some of the 1,500 British personnel currently exercising across five countries in Europe. Crown Copyright.


News story: 1,500 British troops exercising with NATO allies in Europe

The Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has today visited some of the 1,500 British personnel currently exercising across five countries in Europe, joining NATO allies in a sign of solidarity against any potential threat.

Sir Michael met with the troops in Romania, including the UK’s 20th Armoured Brigade as part of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force Land component, which the UK took the lead of in January this year. The approximately 500-strong British force have been deployed on Exercise Noble Jump, working alongside 14 partner nations and testing NATO’s ability to deploy forces quickly and in response to a crisis.

Elsewhere in Europe, a company of 45 Commando of the Royal Marines joined the US-led Sabre Strike exercise in Latvia and Lithuania, working alongside Norwegian and Polish forces. Troops from the Light Dragoons and amphibious engineers from 75 Engineer Regiment also joined the exercise in Poland while the Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup 5 Rifles exercised in Estonia.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

The UK is playing a leading role in the NATO alliance and with around 1,500 British personnel exercising in Europe this week, nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in this region. We are standing side by side with our allies in the East, a sign of our unwavering commitment to European security.

While in the country, Sir Michael is also visiting Royal Air Force personnel deployed to Romania as part of the NATO Southern Air Policing mission.

The detachment of four Typhoon fighter jets from 3 Fighter Squadron has been based in Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in south east Romania since May. Deployed for up to four months, they are working alongside the Romanian Air Force to police the skies over the Black Sea.

Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon added:

The UK is stepping up in its support for NATO’s collective defence from the north to the south of the alliance. Through this deployment, RAF planes will be ready to secure NATO airspace and provide reassurance to allies in the Black Sea region.

During his visit, Sir Michael toured the airbase and spoke with RAF personnel deployed on the Mission. The Defence Secretary also witnessed the fighter jets participate in a practice Quick Reaction Alert.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon visits some of the 1,500 British personnel currently exercising across five countries in Europe. Crown Copyright.



Press release: Foreign Office Minister statement on the 35th anniversary of end of the Falkland Islands conflict

The Rt. Hon Alan Duncan, Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said:

Today marks 35 years since the end of the Falklands conflict. It is an opportunity for us to remember and reflect on all those who lost their lives – the members of our Armed Forces, as well as those from Argentina.

We particularly want to honour the 255 UK servicemen and three Falkland Islanders who made the ultimate sacrifice, and gave their lives to protect the freedom of the Islands. The peace and independence which their courage secured in 1982 has seen the Islands grow and prosper in the three and a half decades since.

Whilst our relationship with Argentina is improving, our resolve to support the Falkland Islanders remains just the same as it did 35 years ago. We remain committed to upholding the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future, and to remain British in line with their wishes.



News story: Civil news: court-assessed online claim change to speed payments

A breakdown of individual hearings for court-assessed claims under the Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS) will be required for submissions after 14 August 2014.

Any FAS advocacy, including ‘bolt-ons’, should be broken down individually and no longer submitted at summary level only. This will help to speed up payments.

How will the process work?

Guidance on how to enter a breakdown of individual hearings is provided on the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS) training website – see link below.

When creating the bill, on the ‘multiple fee scheme bills’ screen, you will need to click ‘yes’ to the top option, ‘would you like to bill for FAS?’.

Alternatively, CCMS’ bulk upload feature can be used to provide the breakdown where providers already use this function.

Claims submitted from 14 August 2017 onwards that do not have this breakdown will be rejected so that they can be amended and resubmitted.

Benefits

Breaking down the fees in your online claim will:

  • allow CCMS to cross-check rates and dates claimed
  • reduce the need for us to ask you for further information
  • simplify the process by making paper-based and online-based claims the same

This only applies to claims assessed by the court and including any advocacy under the FAS. There are no changes to submissions under other online billing schemes.

Further information

CCMS training website – see ‘court assessed bill’ under ‘closing cases and submitting bills’

CIV Claim 1A – to download checklist with evidential requirements for court assessed claims