Treatment of Alan Turing was “appalling” - PM

The Prime Minister has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker, Alan Turing, recognising the “appalling” way he was treated for being gay.

Alan Turing, a mathematician most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes, was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and sentenced to chemical castration.

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.

Read the statement

2009 has been a year of deep reflection - a chance for Britain, as a nation, to commemorate the profound debts we owe to those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events have stirred in us that sense of pride and gratitude which characterise the British experience. Earlier this year I stood with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama to honour the service and the sacrifice of the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we marked the 70 years which have passed since the British government declared its willingness to take up arms against Fascism and declared the outbreak of World War Two. So I am both pleased and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have this year a chance to mark and celebrate another contribution to Britain’s fight against the darkness of dictatorship; that of code-breaker Alan Turing.

Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.

Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. Alan and the many thousands of other gay men who were convicted as he was convicted under homophobic laws were treated terribly. Over the years millions more lived in fear of conviction.

I am proud that those days are gone and that in the last 12 years this government has done so much to make life fairer and more equal for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan’s status as one of Britain’s most famous victims of homophobia is another step towards equality and long overdue.

But even more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contribution to humankind. For those of us born after 1945, into a Europe which is united, democratic and at peace, it is hard to imagine that our continent was once the theatre of mankind’s darkest hour. It is difficult to believe that in living memory, people could become so consumed by hate - by anti-Semitism, by homophobia, by xenophobia and other murderous prejudices - that the gas chambers and crematoria became a piece of the European landscape as surely as the galleries and universities and concert halls which had marked out the European civilisation for hundreds of years. It is thanks to men and women who were totally committed to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and of total war are part of Europe’s history and not Europe’s present.

So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.

Gordon Brown

PM outlines Afghanistan strategy

The Prime Minister has outlined the Government’s long term strategy in Afghanistan, promising more support for troops and a stronger focus on increasing the presence of the Afghan army.

During a speech at the Institute of International Strategic Studies, Gordon Brown said the more Afghans can take responsibility for security in the short term, the less coalition forces will be needed in the long term.

Mr Brown said British troops would speed up their training of Afghan forces and move to a partnership role, “living, training and fighting alongside them”.

But he said in the short term UK forces would also have to address the changing tactics of the Taliban, in particular the increased use of mines and roadside bombs.

The PM said the Government was committed to ensuring that British forces have the resources necessary to do their job and promised ongoing investment in helicopters and vehicles.

“We have since 2006 spent over £1 billion from the reserve on new vehicles for Afghanistan, including 280 mastiffs which offer world-leading protection against IEDs. Between November 2006 and April this year we increased the number of helicopter hours by 84 per cent - and on top of that, as well sharing coalition helicopters, we lease hundreds of hours each month from commercial operators for routine supplies.”

The Prime Minister said the Government would continue to work on shifting the focus of the Helmand economy from heroin to wheat production and that the UK would continue to invest in education for Afghan children.

The UK will provide an extra £20 million to help stabilisation and security in Helmand, including police training and basic justice, he said.

“In Afghanistan last week I was further convinced that despite the challenges we face a nation emerging from three decades of violence can be healed and strengthened; and that our country and the whole world can be safer; because together we have the values, the strategy and the resolve to complete our vital task.”

PM welcomes Zardari to Number 10

The PM has welcomed Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Number 10 for talks on a range of issues including counter-terrorism, development and education.

Following today’s meeting a Downing Street spokesman said that security in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained a high priority for both governments. The Prime Minister also reiterated the UK’s pledge to invest £665 million over four years in programmes aimed at tackling the root causes of extremism.

Following the meeting a Downing Street spokesman said:

“The Prime Minister and the President agreed the need to tackle the underlying causes of extremism. The Prime Minister reiterated our support for Pakistani efforts and repeated the UK’s commitment, £665 million over four years. Our development programme in Pakistan is our second largest in the world; we aim to spend around half of this in the critical border areas.

“This requires a comprehensive approach including better governance, economic development such as a single financing mechanism, and when necessary appropriate military pressure.

“There was discussion and support expressed for our education programme. A programme announced back in April that focuses on the border area of Pakistan. In particular we announced that we will provide textbooks in the border areas for school children and that we would support 300,000 girls from poor families attending secondary school. More does need to be done and we have asked our international partners to step up and do more and follow up on the Tokyo Donors’ Conference which delivered $5 billion of pledges over the next two years.”

PM backs Twitter NHS support

The Prime Minister has added his voice to a Twitter campaign supporting the NHS.

Many Twitter users have united behind the message “we love the NHS”, adding personal messages of support for the health service via the popular social networking site.

Gordon Brown provided his backing via Downing Street’s official Twitter account with his own message which read:

“The NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there.”

Health Secretary Andy Burnham added that he was over the moon about the strong support for the NHS on Twitter, adding it was an “institution I will defend to my dying day”.

Gordon Brown calls for commemoration of troops

The Prime Minister has said it is time to commemorate the British troops who have died in Afghanistan as he signaled an end to the first phase of Operation Panther’s Claw.

Speaking from Scotland, Gordon Brown praised soldiers who have taken part in the offensive to push back the Taliban.

He acknowledged that it had been a difficult time for the troops but said they had succeeded in protecting thousands of local civilians and people in Britain.

The PM said:

“Now that Operation Panther’s Claw has shown that it can bring success and the first phase of that operation is over, it’s time to commemorate all those soldiers who have given their lives and to thank all our British forces for the determination and professionalism and courage that they’ve shown.

“What we have actually done is make land secure for about 100,000 people. What we’ve done is push back the Taliban - and what we’ve done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain. And I’m very proud of what our forces have achieved over the last few weeks - indeed for all the time they’ve been in Afghanistan.”

He said that Britain’s strategy in Afghanistan was still to undertake military offensives to remove insurgents and to build up local institutions to allow the Afghans to take control of their own affairs.

PM praises “groundbreaking” swine flu service

A self-care service to help people with swine flu symptoms is “breaking new ground”, the Prime Minister has said.

The National Pandemic Flu Service, consisting of a new dedicated website and phone line, allows people to check their symptoms and, if necessary, get a unique number to allow them access to antivirals from a collection point.

* Visit the National Pandemic Flu Service website

Gordon Brown said the service was already working well to help people get advice as he met NHS staff in London today to hear how the capital is dealing with the outbreak.

He said:

“[The National Pandemic Flu Service] is the first in the world. We are breaking new ground here, but we have been preparing for this for more than two years and I think the evidence is that people are responding to the scheme… What I want to do is ensure that people get the best advice, get it as quickly as possible, are able to get the antivirals when they need them and are reassured.”

The Prime Minister added that he hoped the service would take some of the burden off GPs and hospitals, which have been seeing rising numbers of people reporting symptoms, and he praised NHS staff for their response to the outbreak.

He added:

“I don’t know if any health service in the world could do what we have been able to do so quickly as a result of efforts of all the staff.”

Read advice about swine flu from Directgov

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The G8 Summit, from the PM

I have just returned from three days in Italy attending a successful G8 Summit and wanted to update you on some of the historic agreements we reached.

First, however, I must say how moved I was by the decision to hold the G8 in L'Aquila to show solidarity with the population of the region, which as you'll remember was severely hit by an earthquake in April.

At the summit, we discussed many issues, including the interrelated challenges of the economic crisis, poverty and climate change.

Our major breakthrough was agreement for the first time to cap global temperature rises by 2°C and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

This important deal, agreed on the first day, paves the way for a wider global agreement at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

Britain and the other major developed nations also pledged £12 billion for efforts to boost food supplies in the face of a looming hunger emergency.

The investment will fund a three-year initiative to help poorer nations develop their own agriculture, enabling them to become self-sufficient.

As President Obama said, the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it's no longer needed.

We have also agreed to a call from President Obama to hold talks in Washington next spring which could lead to countries reducing their nuclear arsenals.

Only collective action like this can increase the pressure on those states determined to develop nuclear weapons, such as Iran and North Korea.

As well as attending the main sessions at the summit, I also met with many important world leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon where we discussed the situation in Burma.

I hope you'll agree that these results prove that the world's major economies can make real achievements for everyone when we come together.

Gordon Brown

$20bn food aid pledge at G8 conclusion

G8 leaders have pledged $20billion to boost food supplies to poorer nations following the final day of discussions at the summit in L’Aquila, Italy.

The investment, which rose from an expected figure of $15 billion, will help countries develop their own agriculture.

At a press conference following the conclusion of the three-day summit, Gordon Brown said it was “unacceptable” that some people in the world are going hungry.

He said:

“We agreed today to the urgent need for decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty and we want to make sure in tomorrow’s world that no-one will go hungry any more… I believe not only does Africa have a capacity to feed itself if things are done right, but it can in future also play a major part in feeding the world.”

Mr Brown said that stabilising food supplies in Africa will help to avoid food security problems around the rest of the world. He added that Britain would contribute $1.8 billion towards the programme.

The Prime Minister told reporters that the G8 had also agreed to take forward economic measures agreed at the G20 in London earlier this year, calling on countries to ensure more bank lending, to reject protectionism and to invest in recovery.

He said:

“The G8 has heard loud and clear a second wake-up call on the world economy. It’s a call that we avoid complacency, it’s a call that we accelerate progress on the agreements that we reached at the G20 in London.”

Earlier today, Mr Brown met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - the first time the two leaders have met.

During their 40-minute discussion, they covered topics such as Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who is appealing against his conviction and seeking to return to Libya, and British child Nadia Fawzi, who was abducted by her Libyan father two years ago. Oil prices and international finance for Africa were also on the agenda.

While Mr Brown took part in the summit, his wife Sarah and the other G8 spouses learnt more about the UN World Food Programme’s Red Cup project.

Building Britain's Future

I have today published the Government’s plan for Building Britain’s Future. It is a radical vision for a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society for all.

We have made enormous strides, driving up standards of health care and education; cutting crime and poverty; and harnessing Britain’s economic potential.

The country has been transformed and I am proud that Britain is now a better place to live.

But I am determined that in this time of profound change, driven by the global economic downturn and the crisis of trust in our political system, the Government will work even harder for you.

We plan to make public services more accountable: access to a cancer specialist within two weeks, free health-checks for those aged 40-74 and patients entitled to hospital treatment within 18 weeks.

Parents will be guaranteed an education tailored to their child, with a personal tutor for every secondary school pupil and catch up tuition, including one-to-one, for those who need it.

And residents will have the right to hold the police to account at monthly beat meetings, get a say on CCTV and vote on how offenders pay back the community.

All these commitments will come with proper systems of redress if they are not met.

The severe global downturn has threatened our jobs and homes here in the UK, leaving many of you understandably anxious about the future for you and your children.

We will not make the same mistakes of past recessions by losing another generation to work. This is a price we are not prepared to pay. From next spring everyone under 25 who has been out of work for a year will be guaranteed a job, training or work experience place. And they will have to take that offer.

From September every 16 and 17 year old will receive an offer of a school or college place or an apprenticeship.

Carefully targeted investment of an extra £1.5 billion over the next two years will also deliver an additional 20,000 new affordable homes and create 45,000 jobs. And new guidance will allow local authorities more flexibility on how they allocate council houses.

We have already started the process of cleaning up politics and more action will follow to restore confidence in our democratic institutions.
But today is just the start.

And we want to know your ideas on how we build a better future for Britain – one that’s fairer, more prosperous and responsible. I look forward to hearing from you.

Government sets out “Road to Copenhagen”

World leaders must agree to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2050 when they meet at the Copenhagen climate conference in December, the Government has said.

The Prime Minister said that the clock is ticking and a dramatic cut in emissions levels over the next four decades will be necessary to keep global average temperature increases to two degrees centigrade or less.

The target is one of the goals set out today in the Road to Copenhagen - the Government’s manifesto for the conference.

Gordon Brown said there were two targets nations must agree on. The first is to ensure global emissions peak by 2020 and are cut by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The second is that developed countries must agree to reduce their emissions by 80% to allow developing countries room for growth.

The PM said:

“An ambitious agreement in Copenhagen is certainly achievable. And yet it remains far from certain. We cannot allow this to drift - when every year of delay retards investment, locks us into a higher emissions pathway, worsens the impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable, and increases the costs of eventual reduction.

“Copenhagen is twenty-three weeks away. When historians look back on this critical moment, let them say, not that we were the generation that failed our children; but that we had the courage, and the will, to succeed.”

The Prime Minister and Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband visited London Zoo this morning to launch the manifesto.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Brown pledged that the UK will play its part in providing financial aid for climate mitigation in the developing world, and urged countries to work together on a global figure of around $100 billion per year by 2020.

He also called for aviation and maritime emissions to be part of the Copenhagen agreement, and for forestry to become part of the carbon trading market in a bid to prevent deforestation.

Government boosts support for e-learning

The Open University is to receive an extra £12 million in funding to develop its role as a national leader in distance learning, the Prime Minister has said.

Visit the Open University website

Former students, tutors and the Vice Chancellor of the UK’s largest higher education institute attended a reception at Downing Street to mark the Open University’s 40th anniversary.

Gordon Brown said the Open University has embraced technology, which has in turn helped to open up higher education to more people.

“Our new digital world, and in particular the internet, has dramatically expanded the number of ways that universities can teach their students, helping them to reach people in much more flexible ways, and giving students on the other side of the world a chance to experience the same high quality education enjoyed by students here in Britain.”

This week the Government announced a £20 million Open Learning Innovation fund to promote creative online learning, and a taskforce of experts to examine how to expand e-learning and access to online course materials.

The taskforce will include the next Open University Vice Chancellor, Martin Bean, as well as the British Library, the British Council, Microsoft, Apple and the BBC.

The Open University was established in 1969 and has more than 200,000 students.

PM pledges continued investment in public services

Gordon Brown has visited an East London school to see the impact of public services on communities as he pledged to continue improving and investing in frontline services.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary Alan Johnson met teachers, police officers and youth workers at Stepney Green school in Tower Hamlets, East London, to hear how they are working together to stop young people becoming involved in drugs.

The initiative is one example of the work being done by neighbourhood police - one area of public services which has been expanded as part of the Government’s drive to invest in the sector.

The PM said:

“We have just been expanding neighbourhood policing to every area of the country. We will continue to do it. We want people to be safer. Neighbourhood policing will be concentrated on the problems of burglary and anti social behaviour. We cannot see a cut - we will not allow it to be cut.”

There are now 3,600 neighbourhood policing teams across the country. The Government said that, in conjunction with Safer Schools Partnerships, they are helping to tackle youth crime issues.

Global Plan for Recovery and Reform

G20 leaders have committed to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and to restore credit, growth and jobs.

Leaders of the world’s major economies also pledged to “clean up” the global banking system while committing not to resort to protectionism.

Announcing the outcome of the G20 Summit, Gordon Brown said the parties at the meeting had drawn up six pledges to shorten the recession.

These included repairing the financial system to restore lending, and doing “what it takes” to restore global growth.

They also pledged to fund and reform international financial institutions, act decisively to kick-start international trade, and to build an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery.

The Prime Minister said:

“We will not hesitate as long as people are losing their jobs and their homes to make the difference that we can by improving their prosperity. Today’s actions of course will not immediately solve the crisis. But we have begun the process by which they will be solved.”

Gordon Brown added:

“These are not just a single collection of actions. This is a collective action – people working together at their best.”

The measures that leaders agreed to in the statement titled Global Plan for Recovery and Reform included:

- trebling resources available to the International Monetary Fund to $750 billion

- ensuring $250 billion of support for trade finance

- using the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional finance for the poorest countries

- establishing a new Financial Stability Board (FSB) with a strengthened mandate to collaborate with the IMF to provide early warning of macroeconomic risks

- extending regulation and oversight to all systemically important financial institutions, instruments and markets, including hedge funds

- taking action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens

- calling for the heads and senior leadership of the international financial institutions to be appointed through an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process

- refraining from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services