Column 27 May 2021 - G7 update

Last week I had a productive time in Parliament, asking two questions of my Ministerial colleagues in the Chamber on further support for our constituency.

With Falmouth hosting the world’s media at next month’s G7 Leaders Summit, I was able to highlight the tremendous home-grown television and film talent already produced in the town via Falmouth University, in a question to Oliver Dowden The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In response to my question I was pleased to secure a meeting with the Secretary of State or one of his Ministerial colleagues about what further support the Government can give to the film and television industry both in Falmouth and across the whole of Cornwall.

Also last week I was able to secure a visit from Kwasi Kwarteng, The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to see the exciting plans in Falmouth for the town to be at the heart of the renewable energy sector in Cornwall. Falmouth boasts the deepest natural harbour in western Europe and it is well placed to play a leading role in the UK’s ambition to deploy a gigawatt of FLOW—floating offshore wind—capacity by 2030. FLOW deployment in the Celtic sea alone could create more than 3,000 jobs. Local universities and the private sector have come together in Falmouth to accelerate deployment of this crucial renewable energy sector, with a Strength in Places fund application. I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State’s commitment to a visit and look forward to showing him these plans in person in Cornwall to help promote our bid to be part of the emerging sustainable energy sector which is really gathering strength in Cornwall right now.

With the G7 now less than a month away I was pleased to see a joint statement issued by Ministers from the participating countries acknowledging the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security. The statement included a commitment to do this by putting climate, biodiversity, and the environment at the heart of their COVID-19 recovery strategies and investments. The Ministers also stated that they wish to set the world on a nature positive and climate-resilient pathway to bend the curve of biodiversity loss by 2030 and to keep a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach by making our 2030 ambitions consistent with the aim of achieving net zero emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest. This is an incredibly positive statement to make and I am pleased that sustainable living is being placed at the heart of the UK’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, where we are already making such strides locally ourselves.

Another local connection to this international event is Sing2G7, an apolitical international engagement programme with a vision to enable children to raise their voices in song and be heard by world leaders.  Sing2G7 was conceived and is run by a tiny team of volunteers with the support of creative professionals and seven strong partners, including Truro Cathedral and Truro School. My thanks go to all who have taken part in this wonderful initiative and if you want to hear the song, go to their website at  https://www.sing2g7.org/

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698.

Please ensure children's rights are at the heart of the G7 Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding children and the G7. 

I share your concern for the situation of children around the world. They have certainly not been spared by the short-term disruption wrought by the pandemic and will long have to live with its consequences. It is vital that their voices are heard, and needs accounted for. 

Ministers have been clear that they intend to use the UK's G7 Presidency to encourage the international community to eliminate persisting barriers to education and get all children back to school, especially girls. Indeed, girls' education is one of the UK's key aid priorities, on which £400 million will be spent in twenty-five developing countries in 2021 alone. This will build on our past work on this issue, which, from 2015 and 2020, supported over fifteen million children to gain a decent education, of which just over eight million were girls. 

I welcome the commitments agreed by the G7 Foreign and Development ministers at the conclusion of their meeting in London this week on this issue in their Declaration on Girls’ Education: Recovering from Covid-19 and unlocking Agenda 2030, which you can find on the link below: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/g7-foreign-and-development-ministers-meeting-may-2021-communique/declaration-on-girls-education-recovering-from-covid-19-and-unlocking-agenda-2030 

Going forward, the Youth 7 (Y7) engagement group, chaired by the Future Leaders Network, will lead on embedding the needs of children and future generations in all national and international recovery plans. I will be following all relevant developments closely. 

Finally, the UK has placed itself at the forefront of the global response to Covid-19 through generous commitments to COVAX, GAVI and WHO, and will be spending more than more £1.3 billion on global health projects in 2021. 

I would also like to highlight my support for the Sing2G7 project of which you can see further details of on the link below:

https://www.sing2g7.org/partners

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.  

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

 

Stand up for Palestinian children Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding the treatment of Palestinian children.  

As a rule, I do not support Early Day Motions as they often do not get debated and have no legislative effect. 

I appreciate your concern for this issue, and will ensure that Ministers at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) are aware of the points you have raised. 

 
I know that the UK repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and has a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the treatment of Palestinian children. The UK continues to stress to the Israeli security forces the importance of providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, children in particular, and of restraint in the use of live fire. 

 
I too am concerned about Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and I know that the UK Government shares these concerns. Reports of the heavy use of painful restraints and the high number of Palestinian children who are not informed of their legal rights, in contravention of Israel's own regulations, are particularly concerning, as is, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the continued transfer of Palestinian child and adult detainees to prisons inside Israel. 

 
I am assured that the UK remains committed to working with Israel to secure improvements to the practices surrounding children in detention and that our Embassy in Tel Aviv is in regular dialogue with Israel on this issue. I welcome that the UK also funds projects providing legal aid to minors and capacity building to local lawyers.  

 
It is for reasons such as the above that Israel and the OPTs remain a human rights priority for the FCDO, as documented in the most recent Human Rights and Democracy Report last year. I am confident that the UK will continue to monitor these issues closely and raise them with the relevant authorities where effective.  

 

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.  

 

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

Downing Street Renovations Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding Downing Street renovations.  

Downing Street is an historic working complex containing several buildings and two ministerial residences. The Government is legally required to maintain Downing Street buildings to standards appropriate to their Grade I and Grade II listed status. As I am sure you can imagine, their status as well as security and other factors, can lead to a significantly increased cost for maintenance and repairs. 

Prime Ministers across successive governments have been provided with an allowance of up to £30,000 a year to contribute to the maintenance and furnishing of residency in the Downing Street estate. The cost of the wider refurbishment you mention has been met by the Prime Minister personally. 

At all times, the Government and Ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed. Subject to advice from the new Independent Adviser on Ministerial Interests, Lord Geidt, the Prime Minister will be making any necessary declaration in line with the requirements of the Ministerial Code. 

With regards to the current enquiry, there is little I can say because I just don’t know. Lord Geidt is conducting an independent enquiry and I believe we must wait for its finding before passing justice. 

The overriding aim throughout has been to reduce the need for taxpayers’ money to fund the works and maintain a listed building owned by the nation. Matters concerning current works to the Downing Street estate, including residences, more broadly are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. 

I nonetheless understand the concerns you raise and take onboard your views on this issue.   

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.  

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

Please help ensure the HIV Action Plan is worthy of its name Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding HIV and AIDS worldwide.  

The UK is a world leader on this issue, as demonstrated our commitment of £1.4 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria. This is our largest commitment to date, and makes us the second largest donor (behind the US) to the current replenishment (2020-22) of the Fund. 

Thanks in part to the UK's consistent and generous support, since 2002, the Global Fund has achieved what was once considered impossible. From the peak of the HIV crisis in the late 1990s and early 2000s, annual AIDS-related deaths and new infections have been cut by half. Of the 38 million people living with HIV, 25.4 million are on antiretroviral therapy today – 20.1 million in the countries where the Global Fund invests. I am assured that the UK will continue to support the Global Fund in its vital effort on this issue. 

In recognition of the critical role that civil society organisations play in the AIDS response to address inequalities and hold governments to account the UK is also supporting the Robert Carr Fund, of which is was a founding member. The UK has committed £15 million to this Fund since its inception, and I am told that future investments will be announced later this year. 

Ministers are also engaged with preparations for the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS. 

More broadly, I welcome that the Foreign Secretary has confirmed that investing in global health is one of seven key ODA priorities going forward, on which approximately £1.3 billion will be spent in 2021. 

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.  

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

 

International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents getting in touch regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). 

I note your concern for this issue and thank you for bringing it to my attention. 

The UK was a founding member of the ICC, which began operating in 2002 when the Rome Statute came into effect and remains a strong supporter of the ICC and respects the independence of the court and its officials.  

I know that whilst the UK Government does not consider the ICC has jurisdiction in this particular instance , it respects completely the independence of the ICC and the right of its officials to carry out their work without hinderance. In return, of course, as with any such court, it expects due prosecutorial and judicial discipline  

Respect for human rights underpins the UK's foreign policy; Ministers and officials regularly raise concerns with the Israeli Government, where they exist, for this reason. Indeed, Israel and the OPTs is a human rights priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. I am assured that the UK will continue to support, and partake in, international scrutiny of Israel and the OPTs provided it is proportionate 

If you would like to discuss this further or any other matter, then please do not hesitate to contact me.  

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk 

Column 20 May 2021 - The Queen's Speech

Last week saw Parliament return to sitting following the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech. The Queen’s Speech sets the Government’s priorities for a new session of Parliament. As the Queen said in her speech:

“My Government’s priority is to deliver a national recovery from the pandemic that makes the United Kingdom stronger, healthier and more prosperous than before.”

The Government is doing this by continuing with its levelling up agenda across the UK.

With Truro and Penwith College such an important educational centre in our constituency , I was pleased to see the speech contain legislation that will support a lifetime skills guarantee to enable flexible access to high quality education and training throughout people’s lives, via the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill. It is really good news that Further Education is being highlighted in this way, and I look forward to seeing what this means for Further Education across Cornwall.

Part of this agenda is about improving all forms of national infrastructure, and I was pleased to see the Product Security and Telecommunications Bill coming forward, which will extend and strengthen mobile coverage as well as gigabit capable broadband, aspects of communication which have never been so important to us to have working reliably, as so many of us have learned while working from home!

Now we have left the EU there is also more work to do to ensure our animal welfare laws remain of the highest standard, better in fact than those in the EU, and I was pleased to see legislation will coming forward in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, Kept Animals Bill and Animals Abroad Bill that will allow the UK  to continue to do just this.

I was also pleased to see several important Bills that we have been working on for some time carried over into the new Parliament, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Armed Forces Bill, and Environment Bill , among others being continued. These are significant pieces of legislation and it is only right that Parliament is given the time to debate them properly so that they can be of greatest benefit to our country.

In particular, regarding the Environment Bill, I was delighted to see last week, formal confirmation that principles from the Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill, a Private Members Bill which I was an original signatory for, will be added to this Bill for consideration in Parliament later this year.

As a passionate campaigner for our environment it is clear that we must take more action to combat the discharges into our seas and watercourses that we still sadly see far too often from some of the antiquated water infrastructure in Cornwall, even as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

These amendments place duties on the Government to implement a plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows, and report back to Parliament on it, as well as a duty on water companies to accurately report the incidents that take place under their watch. Combined with the Storm Overflows Taskforce this will lead to a greater understanding of the scale of this problem and in turn allow us to reduce and eliminate it, improving our aquatic environments for all!

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698.