The Prime Minister opened
Cabinet by saying that Friday will mark the one year anniversary
of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Referencing President
Zelenskyy’s visit to the UK a fortnight ago, the Prime Minister
said this was a powerful moment that demonstrated to Russia that
the UK, Ukraine and our closest partners are united in their
resolve.
He said he was struck by the
number of people at the Munich Security Conference who noted that
UK leadership had played an important part in the global response
to Russia’s invasion.
On the Northern Ireland
Protocol, the Prime Minister told Cabinet that intensive
negotiations with the EU continue on resolving the issues caused
by the way the Protocol was being enforced and that he was
seeking to address three main areas – safeguarding Northern
Ireland’s place within the union, protecting the Belfast
agreement in all its dimensions and ensuring the free flow of
trade within the UK internal market.
Cabinet then discussed how the
Government can continue to deliver on our five priorities of
halving inflation, growing the economy, getting debt falling,
reducing waiting lists and stopping the boats across the entire
United Kingdom.
The Levelling Up Secretary
updated Cabinet on the Government’s approach to delivering for
the UK, including by opening new Freeports as part of the
benefits unlocked by Brexit.
Cabinet discussed other
measures that the UK Government had delivered with the Northern
Ireland Secretary highlighting the recent announcement that £100
million would be invested into UK shipyards, including in
Belfast– creating more than 900 jobs.
The PM concluded by saying that
we must focus on levelling up, demonstrating the tangible
benefits this is bringing to everyone across the United
Kingdom.
