News story: Foreign Secretary at EU Foreign Affairs Council

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson spoke to media ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

We will be doing a bit on Libya this morning. Talking about the needs to unify the east and the west of the country, build on the Libya political agreement, seeing what we can do there to be more creative. Whilst of course, at the same time, addressing the refugee crisis, the migration crisis. As you know at Valletta, the Malta Summit, Britain pledged another £30 million to help tackle that crisis. Proving once again, as I never tire of telling you, that we may be leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe. We remain absolutely committed to that joint endeavour.

We’ll be talking about Ukraine as well, talking about the recent upsurge in violence. Everybody is very concerned about that. The causes, as you know, aren’t quite clear. There’s a bit of murkiness about who initiated that. But the UK will be insisting there is no case for relaxation of the sanctions and every case for keeping up the pressure on Russia.

I’m sure there’ll be discussions on Syria, the Middle East Peace Process and much else besides.

Further information

News story: European referral of veterinary medicines containing zinc oxide: Call for evidence

The EMA Veterinary Committee has concluded that the benefit:risk balance for veterinary medicines containing zinc oxide is negative and that this class of products should be withdrawn.

Previous news story regarding the European referral outcome

The deadline for submission of responses is: 11:59pm 21 February

The EMA’s Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP) concluded in December 2016 that veterinary medicines containing zinc oxide, used to prevent post weaning diarrhoea in piglets, should be withdrawn from the market. This recommendation was based on a conclusion that the risk these products were considered to present to the environment has not been outweighed by the demonstrated benefits.

The CVMP have now been requested to re-examine this conclusion; their final position is expected in March.

The CVMP provide scientific advice to the EU Commission on the benefits and risks relating to authorised veterinary medicines. It is for the EU Commission to decide what action to take as a result.

EU Member States have now been invited by the EU Commission to provide written comments by,13 March 2017, regarding a proposed transitional period before the withdrawal of these products is implemented.

The comments from the Member States should propose a duration for this transitional period, supported by concrete evidence. The EU Commission has also requested information on measures that have already been taken at a national level to reduce the use of zinc oxide and the use of antibiotics in pig production, for example through changes to animal husbandry practices or use of alternatives, including vaccines.

Your views

The VMD therefore invites any interested parties to submit relevant evidence via our proforma (MS Word Document, 17.2KB) to postmaster@vmd.defra.gsi.gov.uk.

Submissions should:

be concise
be written in English
be limited to 2000 words, excluding references; submissions must reference the source of any data provided (provide weblinks to any data that are already in the public domain)
be specific to proposals for the duration of a transitional period
be supported by evidence related to:
- the impact of product withdrawal on pig health and welfare and/or pig productivity
- husbandry and/or production system changes that will be necessary to mitigate this impact, and the economic cost of these changes
- effective alternatives to zinc oxide, either currently available or in development

News story: MMO calls for feedback on marine planning

A questionnaire on the first outputs of marine planning in the north east, north west, south east and south west has been launched.

The questionnaire, which is open until Friday 31 March 2017, asks for feedback on the recently published Issues Database, supporting evidence, proposed draft policies to date as well as a new interactive format.

It’s the first opportunity for stakeholders to see how marine planning is progressing in north east, north west, south east and south west marine plan areas, marking an important milestone in the marine planning process.

The questionnaire is part of an eight week programme of activity, which also includes a series of workshops.

The questionnaire and workshops are an opportunity to see how the issues and evidence gathered last year are being taken forward, and how proposed draft policies for the areas are being developed.

A new proposed format for marine plans is also introduced, which takes a shorter, more digital, interactive approach, linking directly to our Marine Information System (MIS).

Steve Brooker, Chief Planning Officer said:

“We encourage everyone who uses the marine area to complete this short questionnaire.

“Marine plans will shape how we all – from developers to local residents – interact with the marine area over the next 20 years, and so it’s important that everyone has the opportunity to take part in their development.

“The questionnaire and workshops mark the end of the first year of marine planning in the north east, north west, south east and south west, and we welcome feedback on how our work is progressing.”

To take part in the questionnaire visit our consultation website.

To sign up for a marine planning workshop, visit one of our Eventbrite pages:

Green Party: Health tourism is not the real threat to our NHS, underinvestment is

6 February 2017

The Green Party believes the Government’s plan to make NHS hospitals in England charge overseas patients upfront for treatment [1] is a distraction from the real source of the NHS crisis.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“Treating doctors and nurses like border guards and forcing patients to produce identity documents will only cause chaos and simply add more stress to an already struggling system.

“It was also revealed today that nine in 10 hospitals have reached unsafe levels of overcrowding so far this winter [2] and one in six A&Es may be closed or downgraded over the next few years [3]. It’s clear our NHS is in a dire state but the Government seems more interesting in pushing the blame for this crisis onto foreign patients.

“Health tourism is not the real threat to our NHS, underinvestment is. The biggest impact that foreign born people have on our NHS is as doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. It’s time the Government owns up to its own failure rather than attempting to shift the blame elsewhere.”

Notes:

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This scandal exposes the overall approach by the Tories, which is to make those on low incomes pay for the last seven years of Tory economic failure – Rebecca Long-Bailey

Rebecca
Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to
news that families affected by Concentrix assessments are to have their cases
reviewed, said:

“These
figures further confirm that Concentrix were pursuing a cut first ask questions
later approach, which saw thousands of low income families pay the price for an
overzealous contractor, and a lack of government oversight.

"This
scandal exposes the overall approach by the Tories, which is to make those on
low incomes pay for the last seven years of Tory economic failure.

"We
welcome the fact that those who have been unfairly punished will have their
cases finally reviewed. It is just a shame that the Tories had to be forced
here kicking and screaming by Labour. However, those who have their decisions
overturned must be reimbursed in full for the amounts that they lost as a
matter of urgency. Anything less will be seen as the government
continuing to let them down.”