Chris McDonald

This Government’s priority is to keep our streets safe, that is why we have committed to halve knife crime in a decade as part of our Safer Streets Mission.

As well as committing to more police officers and police community support officers on our streets, the Government has taken swift action to tackle knife crime by creating new offences and penalties to deter the possession and sale of these barbaric weapons, including implementing the ban on zombie-style knives and machetes, and bringing forward plans to ban ninja swords later this year.

As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS prosecutes knife crime robustly, providing early investigative advice on offending to build strong cases and deliver justice for victims.

Working closely with police forces in Merseyside, Thames Valley, West Midlands and Sussex, the CPS recently completed a two-year pilot of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs). SVROs, which can be applied for by the CPS, provide police with the power to search a person subject to an order for bladed articles or offensive weapons in a public space. The pilot has already yielded positive results. For example, in Merseyside, the CPS has secured more than 270 SVROs against offenders who posed a significant risk to the public. In the same region, over the past year knife crime has decreased by 6.5% and violent crime has reduced by more than 32% in the areas identified as hotspots for antisocial behaviour and serious violence. An evaluation report about the pilot is due in summer 2025, ahead of a decision by the Government to roll the powers out nationally.

The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade, will publish an updated assessment of the criticality of over 80 candidate materials, later this year. This assessment is focused on the UK's circumstances, needs and priorities, and no comparative assessment of other jurisdictions has been undertaken to date.

The Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade, is currently undertaking an updated criticality assessment, with the results to be released later this year. The methodology for this assessment can be found on the CMIC website and the process involves assessing over 80 candidate materials, including copper.

The Government acknowledges the undertakings set out in the offer to shareholders which show that the prospective buyers are alert to the importance of Royal Mail and the special place it has in the UK.

We are engaging with the bidder to understand better their plans for Royal Mail and to set out the Government’s expectations for its future.

We are giving older and disabled people more independence in their own homes through an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will provide approximately 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for 2025/26 at the Budget, bringing total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million also.

To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.

The UK is aware that the Government of India has placed the Indus Water Treaty into abeyance due to ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. It is critical for all countries and international partners to work together to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Indus River system, a water system that is critical to both India and Pakistan. The UK Government stands ready to offer its support to India and Pakistan in their efforts to ensure the sustainable and equitable management of the Indus River system in the face of a changing climate.

The government is working at pace to establish the national wealth fund which is critical to our growth and green energy missions.

It will crowd in investment from the private sector into the industries of the future and create jobs across the country.

The Chancellor will set out more detail at the international investment summit in October.

Cables and pipelines are as vital for our economy as factories and power stations.

This Government is increasing defence spending to keep Britain safe at home and secure abroad. And that includes investing in RFA Proteus to protect our undersea cables.