Prime Minister celebrates Scottish culture and the integral contribution it makes to the fabric of the UK at Number 10 reception
Guests enjoy haggis toasties, fresh fruit sodas and seeing Scottish businesses showcased whilst listening to Robert Burns’ poems
Prime Minister awards Wheels to Heal founder Khalid Raza with a Points of Light Award for his community work
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak celebrated Scottish culture last nightby hosting a reception in Downing Street to celebrate Burns Night.
Guests, including faith group leaders, were welcomed to the event with sounds of traditional bagpipes and drums, and will be able to enjoy Scottish cuisine from stalls in an indoor-street market.
Deeney’s famous haggis toasties and Rapscallion’s fresh fruit sodas were on offer, and there was a range of other businesses showcased as part of the event.
Deeney’s was set up by Carol and Paddy at a market in East London in the summer of 2012. Inspired by Carol’s Scottish roots, it has been a mainstay of London’s street food scene ever since, partly thanks to their famous ‘Macbeth’ haggis toastie, and they now have restaurants in both London and Tokyo.
Glasgow-based Rapscallion Soda was born in 2016 and has built a reputation for its inventive exotic flavours using raw ingredients, such as Burnt Lemon, Dry Lime and Rhubarb.
Attendees were offered a dram of the Isle of Raasay Distillery’s finest. Founded in 2017, the Inner Hebrides island’s first legal distillery produces both whisky and gin in its contribution to Scotland’s drinks exports, worth £4.2. billion in total in 2021.
The Prime Minister also chatted to fashion designer Siobhan Mackenzie about her innovative work reinventing tartan classics such as kilts, tailoring and accessories into contemporary styles.
As is tradition, Hugh McMillan, member of the Scottish Poetry Library, recited Robert Burns’ A Man’s a Man for a’ That, as well as a selection of other poetry.
As part of the celebrations, the Prime Minister took the opportunity to personally award Mr Khalid Raza, founder of the charity Wheels to Heal with a Points of Light award.
It will be the UK’s 1974th Points of Light award, recognising the outstanding contribution Mr Raza has made to both his own community and countless others across the world.
After discovering 150 wheelchairs by chance in a landfill, Raza created Wheels to Heal – a volunteering network which gives people access to wheelchairs and mobility aids. Since its inception in 2015, the charity has funded and rescued 6,500 wheelchairs from landfill and 5,500 mobility aids from care homes, delivering them across the globe.
Leith Collective invited to celebrate Burns Nightwith PM at 10 Downing Streetahead of sustainable marketplace launch
Whilst many of us in the Scottish capital will be raising a wee dram on Burns Night with friends and family, one Edinburgh Community Interest Company founder will be spending it south of the border with someone rather unexpected.
Sara Thomson, founder of The Leith Collective, has been invited to 10 Downing Street on Wednesday 25th January to celebrate Burns Night with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The exclusive event promises to be a celebration of Scottish culture, and Sara hopes the event will provide an opportunity to shine a light on the wealth of artistic talent here in Scotland. And it is this community of Scottish artists that Sara is hoping to support with the launch of her new sustainable online marketplace, We Relove.
“The Leith Collective has three Scottish stores, each one stocked with beautifully crafted items made by local artists that have reclaimed, recycled, reimagined, and repurposed everyday items. Every day I’m amazed by the sheer skill, inventiveness, and creativity of our local artists”, Sara explained.
“But I want to do more to help artists who aren’t based in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I want to help raise the profile of eco artists from all over Scotland. And so, I’m launching We Relove – Scotland’s first sustainable online marketplace.”
By launching We Relove, Sara hopes to give Scottish artists a new online platform through which they can showcase their work, as well as give consumers greater choice when it comes to shopping sustainably.
It is not the first time that Sara has caught the attention of a head of government. In 2021, Sara received word that she had been specially selected to become a UK ‘One Step Greener’ ambassador ahead of COP26. She was then chosen by the then PM, Boris Johnson, to become the UK’s 1772nd Point of Light. As a result, Sara met Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street and enjoyed a video chat with HRH Queen Elizabeth II.
Since then, Sara has gone on to expand The Leith Collective, opening a store in Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre and Fort Kinnaird. She also organised a highly successful winter coat exchange which saw more than 5,000 coats rehomed to those in need, plus a Christmas tree and school uniform exchange to help locals cope with the cost of living crisis.
Artists, makers, and crafters from Scotland and beyond can register their interest in becoming a We Relove seller at www.we-relove.com.
LIBERTY: ‘This latest attack on our rights must be resisted.’
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is ‘backing the police’ to clamp down on highly disruptive and dangerous protests, under plans announced today.
Through an amendment tabled to the Public Order Bill, the Government will broaden the legal definition of ‘serious disruption’, giving police greater flexibility and clarity over when to intervene to stop the disruptive minority who use tactics such as blocking roads and slow marching to inflict misery on the public.
While the Government has already given police additional powers to prevent protestors using guerrilla tactics, police chiefs have told the Prime Minister that there is some uncertainty over what reaches the threshold of ‘serious disruption’.
The changes introduced today will give police officers absolute clarity over when they should step in. In practice, this will mean:
police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts
police will not need to treat a series of protests by the same group as standalone incidents but will be able to consider their total impact
police will be able to consider long-running campaigns designed to cause repeat disruption over a period of days or weeks
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The right to protest is a fundamental principle of our democracy, but this is not absolute. A balance must be struck between the rights of individuals and the rights of the hard-working majority to go about their day-to-day business.
“We cannot have protests conducted by a small minority disrupting the lives of the ordinary public. It’s not acceptable and we’re going to bring it to an end.
“The police asked us for more clarity to crack down on these guerrilla tactics, and we have listened.”
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Mark Rowley said: “The Met has a long history of policing protests, responding quickly and effectively to incidents involving crime and where serious disruption is caused, often in challenging situations. We have specialist officers trained to deal with a range of tactics, but this is complex, time-consuming work.
“It is clearly understood that everybody has the right to protest. Increasingly however police are getting drawn into complex legal arguments about the balance between that right to protest and the rights of others to go about their daily lives free from serious disruption. The lack of clarity in the legislation and the increasing complexity of the case law is making this more difficult and more contested.
“It is for Parliament to decide the law, and along with other police chiefs, I made the case for a clearer legal framework in relation to protest, obstruction and public nuisance laws. We have not sought any new powers to curtail or constrain protest, but have asked for legal clarity about where the balance of rights should be struck.
“I welcome the government’s proposal to introduce a legal definition of “serious disruption” and “reasonable excuse”. In practical terms, Parliament providing such clarity will create a clearer line for the police to enforce when protests impact upon others who simply wish to go about their lawful business.”
National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Public Order and Public Safety, Chief Constable BJ Harrington, said: ““We welcome the constructive conversations with government over more clearly defining serious disruption.This will support officers in confidently and quickly taking action and making arrests where appropriate.
“Policing is not anti-protest, but there is a difference between protest and criminal activism, and we are committed to responding quickly and effectively to activists who deliberately disrupt people’s lives through dangerous, reckless, and criminal acts.
“Police have a responsibility to appropriately balance the rights of the public who are going about their daily business lawfully and the rights of those protesting.”
The College of Policing have confirmed today that they will produce guidance outlining the additional powers given to officers over the last year.
National Highways is also reviewing its guidance, taking learnings from previous protests to ensure that roads are reopened as quickly as it is safe to do so.
Today’s announcement is the latest step in the UK Government’s continued commitment to tackle the highly disruptive protests that the British public have been increasingly subjected to over the last few years’.
Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, the Government introduced a statutory offence of public nuisance and created powers for the police to place conditions on unjustifiably noisy protests and increased the sentences for obstructing the highway.
Measures already announced in the Public Order Bill include creating a new criminal offence for interfering with key national infrastructure and for ‘locking-on’.
The Prime Minister also sat down with the Home Secretary and police chiefs in December to give a clear message that the Government expects protesters who disrupt the lives of others to be swiftly removed and arrested.
LIBERTY:PROPOSED NEW POLICE POWERS TO ARREST PROTESTERS BEFORE DISRUPTION BEGINS MUST BE RESISTED
Responding to news that the Government have introduced an amendment to the Public Order Bill that will give police new powers to arrest protesters on the chance that they intend to cause serious disruption, Director of Liberty Martha Spurrier said: “Protest is a fundamental right, not a gift from the State. But our right to protest continues to be attacked by a Government determined to silence people and hide from accountability.
“These new proposals should be seen for what they are: a desperate attempt to shut down any route for ordinary people to make their voices heard. Allowing the police to shut down protests before any disruption has taken place simply on the off-chance that it might sets a dangerous precedent, not to mention making the job of officers policing protests much more complex.
“From championing refugee rights to raising the alarm on the cost-of-living crisis, striking for workers’ rights, and fighting for racial and climate justice, protest today remains a crucial way for people to hold the Government to account. This latest attack on our rights must be resisted.”
Hourglass have delivered an open letter to PM Rishi Sunak calling on the Government to urgently provide funding parity for older victim survivors and fund their unique 24/7 helpline
Hourglass have submitted an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signed by politicians from across the political spectrum. The letter calls for the government to provide urgent financial support for the Hourglass helpline which provides 24/7 support and casework for older victim-survivors of abuse.
The open letter has been signed by MPs, Peers, MLAs, MSPs, MSs, academics, third sector leaders and other community supporters. Members of every major political party in the UK have supported this campaign, either by signing this letter or by contacting the Prime Minister directly asking the Government to support the Hourglass helpline.
Hourglass not only provides a 24/7 helpline, the only one of its kind in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but also creates tailored care plans for older victim survivors using caseworkers across the UK. The charity income plummeted in 2022 whilst cases have dramatically risen.
In 2022 the Hourglass helpline has seen a 96% increase in calls. Many of these calls are referrals from government and third sector agencies who rely on Hourglass as specialists in supporting older victims.
Despite this, government support for the helpline and casework service provided by Hourglass has declined. The charity is now bidding for funds from a Violence Against Women and Girls tender, which misses a significant swathe of its work.
Richard Robinson, Chief Executive of Hourglass, said:“The Hourglass helpline and case work service plays a critical role in supporting older people who have experienced abuse. This is a truly unique service and ensures older people can have hope during their darkest times.
“During the Conservative Party leadership campaign, the Ready for Rishi campaign promised that if elected a Rishi-led government would engage with organisations supporting victims, such as Hourglass. There has been no engagement, a string of cancelled meetings and limited understanding of challenge older people face, especially now during this financial crisis.
“The Prime Minister now needs to honour his campaign promise by working with Hourglass to ensure the only UK helpline supporting older victims of abuse can continue to provide a 24/7 service and doesn’t downsize drastically.”
Baroness Ritchie, Hourglass Patron, said:“The Government need to support older victims of abuse. In an ageing society, services like the Hourglass Helpline play a vital role.
“I urge the Prime Minister to answer the call of this open letter and provide adequate funding for the Hourglass Helpline.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a statement to the House of Commons on illegal migration yesterday:
Mr Speaker, before I start, I know the whole House will join me in expressing our sympathies to the families of those who lost their children so tragically in Solihull.
With permission, I’d like to make a statement on illegal migration.
I hope the whole house would agree… there is a complex moral dimension to illegal migration.
The balancing of our duty to support people in dire need… with the responsibility to have genuine control of our borders… understandably provokes strong feelings. And so… it is my view… that the basis for any solution shouldn’t just be ‘what works’… but what is right.
The simplest moral framing for this issue… one I believe members on all sides of this House believe in… is fairness…
Mr Speaker… It is unfair that people come here illegally.
It is unfair on those with a genuine case for asylum…
…when our capacity to help is taken up by people coming through, and from, countries that are perfectly safe.
It is unfair on those who come here legally…
…when others come here by cheating the system.
And above all, it is unfair on the British people who play by the rules… …when others come here illegally and benefit from breaking those rules.
So people are right to be angry… Mr Speaker… because they see what I see… which is that this simply isn’t fair…
It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in human misery and who exploit our system and laws…
Enough is enough.
As currently constructed the global asylum framework has become obsolete.
Today there are 100 million people displaced globally.
Hostile states are using migration as a weapon on the very borders of Europe.
And as the world becomes more unstable – and the effects of climate change make more places uninhabitable – the numbers displaced will only grow.
We have a proud history of providing sanctuary to those most in need.
Britain helped craft the 1951 Refugee Convention to protect those fleeing persecution.
The Rt Hon Member for Maidenhead passed the world’s first Modern Slavery Act in 2015.
And in the last year we have opened our hearts and homes to people from Hong Kong Afghanistan and Ukraine
Thousands of families will be setting extra places around the Christmas table this year.
No-one, no-one can doubt our generosity of spirit.
But today far too many of the beneficiaries of that generosity are not those directly fleeing war zones or at risk of persecution but people crossing the channel in small boats.
Many originate from fundamentally safe countries.
All travel through safe countries.
Their journeys are not ad hoc… but coordinated by ruthless, organised criminals.
And every single journey risks the lives of women, children – and we should be honest, mostly men, at sea.
Mr Speaker… This is not what previous generations intended when they drafted our humanitarian laws.
Nor is it the purpose of the numerous international treaties to which the UK is a signatory.
And unless we act now and decisively, this will only get worse.
Already in just seven weeks since I became Prime Minister, we have delivered the largest ever small boats deal with France…
…with significantly more boots on the ground patrolling their beaches.
For the first-time, UK and French officers are embedded in respective operations in Dover and Northern France.
We’ve re-established the Calais Group of Northern European nations – to disrupt traffickers all along the migration route.
And last week this group set a long-term ambition for a UK-EU wide agreement on migration.
Of course, this is not a panacea, and we need to go much further.
Over the last month the Home Secretary and I have studied every aspect of this issue in detail, and we can now set out five new steps today.
First, our policing of the channel has been too fragmented, with different people, doing different things, being pulled in different directions.
So we will establish a new, permanent, unified Small Boats Operational Command.
This will bring together our military, our civilian capabilities, and the National Crime Agency.
It will coordinate our intelligence, interception, processing, and enforcement.
And use all available technology, including drones for reconnaissance and surveillance, to pick people up and identify and then prosecute more gang-led boat pilots.
We’re adding more than 700 new staff and also doubling the funding given to the NCA for tackling organised immigration crime in Europe.
Second, these extra resources will free up immigration officers to go back to enforcement which, will in turn, allow us to increase raids on illegal working by 50%.
And it’s frankly absurd that today illegal migrants can get bank accounts which help them live and work here. So we will re-start data sharing to stop this.
Third, it’s unfair and appalling that we are spending £5.5 million every day on using hotels to house asylum seekers.
We must end this.
So, we will shortly bring forward a range of alternative sites such as disused holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites.
We have already identified locations that could accommodate 10,000 people and are in active discussions to secure these and many more.
Our aim is to add thousands of places through this type of accommodation in the coming months – at half the cost of hotels.
At the same time, as we consulted on over the summer…
…the cheapest and fairest way to solve this problem is for all local authorities to take their fair share of asylum seekers in the private rental sector.
And we will work to achieve this as quickly as possible.
Fourth, Mr Speaker we need to process claims in days or weeks, not months or years.
So we will double the number of asylum caseworkers.
And we are radically re-engineering the end-to-end process…
…with shorter guidance, fewer interviews, less paperwork and introducing specialist case workers by nationality.
We will also remove the gold plating in our modern slavery system, including by reducing the cooling off period from 45 to 30 days – the legal minimum set out in the ECAT Treaty.
As a result of all these changes, we will triple the productivity of our caseworkers…
…and we expect to abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of next year.
Fifth, Fifth Mr Speaker and most significantly,
A third of all those arriving in small boats this year – almost 13,000 – are Albanian.
And yet Albania is a safe, prosperous European country.
It is deemed safe for returns by Germany, France, Italy, Sweden.
It is an EU accession country, a NATO ally and a member of the same treaty against trafficking as the United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister of Albania has himself said there is no reason why we cannot return Albanian asylum seekers immediately.
Last year Germany, France, Sweden all rejected almost 100% of Albanian asylum claims.
Yet our rejection rate is just 45%.
That must not continue. So today I can announce a new agreement with Albania – and a new approach.
First, we will embed Border Force officers in Tirana airport for the first time ever…
…helping to disrupt organised crime and stop people coming here illegally.
Second, we will issue new guidance for our case workers and make it crystal clear that Albania is a safe country.
Third, one of the reasons we struggle to remove people is because they unfairly exploit our modern slavery system.
So we will significantly raise the threshold someone has to meet to be considered a modern slave.
For the first time, we will actually require a case worker to have objective evidence of modern slavery rather than just a suspicion.
Fourth, we have sought and received formal assurances from Albania confirming they will protect genuine victims and people at risk of re-trafficking…
…allowing us to detain and return people to Albania with confidence and in line with ECAT.
As a result of these changes, the vast majority of claims from Albanians can simply be declared “clearly unfounded”.
And those individuals can be swiftly returned.
Lastly, we will change how we process Albanian illegal migrants, with a new dedicated unit expediting cases within weeks, staffed by 400 new specialists.
Over the coming months, thousands of Albanians will be returned home.
And we’ll keep going with weekly flights until all the Albanians in our backlog have been removed.
And in addition to all these new steps, Mr Speaker let the House be in no doubt that when legal proceedings conclude on our Migration and Economic Development Partnership…
…we will restart the first flights to Rwanda….
…so those here illegally who cannot be returned to their home country, can build a new life there.
But Mr Speaker, even with the huge progress we will make with the changes I have announced today… there still remains a fundamental question…
How do we solve this problem… once and for all?
It is not just our asylum system that needs fundamental reform.
Our laws need reform too.
We must be able to control our borders to ensure that the only people who come here come through safe and legal routes.
However well intended, our legal frameworks are being manipulated by people who exploit our courts to frustrate their removal for months or years on end.
Mr Speaker, I said enough is enough… and I mean it. And that means I am prepared to do what must be done.
So early next year we will introduce new legislation to make unambiguously clear that if you enter the UK illegally you should not be able to remain here.
Instead, you will be detained and swiftly returned either to your home country or to a safe country where your claim for asylum will be considered.
And you will no longer be able to frustrate removal attempts with late or spurious claims or appeals.
And once removed you should have no right to re-entry, settlement, or citizenship.
And furthermore, if our reforms on Albania are challenged in the courts…
…we will also put them on a statutory footing to ensure the UK’s treatment of Albanian arrivals is no different from that of Germany or France.
The only way to come to the UK for asylum will be through safe and legal routes.
And as we get a grip of illegal migration, we will create more of those routes.
We will work with the UNHCR to identify those most in need so the UK remains a safe haven for the most vulnerable.
And we will introduce an annual quota on numbers set by Parliament…
…in consultation with Local Authorities to determine our capacity…
…and amendable in the face of humanitarian emergencies.
Mr Speaker, that is the fair way to address this global challenge.
Tackling this problem will not be quick. It will not be easy.
But it is the right thing to do.
Because we cannot persist with a system that was designed for a different era.
