9th August 2013
As you may have seen Carl Bildt invited William Hague to visit Stockholm for talks later this month, via Twitter today. Between them they have over 400,000 twitter followers and have sent over 8000 tweets. But they also value face-to-face contact, good old-fashioned, as well as high-tech, communication. So it’s excellent the Foreign Secretary’s coming […]
8th August 2013
I blogged on 4 July about the Government’s proposals for Electricity Market Reform. It sounds, and is, quite technical, but it’s also an important part of stimulating new investment in the UK’s energy sector and meeting our climate change targets. Part of the deal to attract investment is to have formal agreements which guarantee the […]
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7th August 2013
I don’t have a great deal in common with Lady Thatcher, but my father was also a grocer. Growing up in Scotland in the early 70’s, I have vague memories of what now seems a very old-fashioned grocer’s shop, as far removed from today’s Waitroses and ICAs, as a Ford Model T is from a […]
2nd August 2013
The UK is one of the most attractive locations in the world to invest in the offshore wind sector. There are huge development projects in the pipeline, as well as the prospect of long-term price stability. With our recent announcements on Electricity Market Reform, the UK is the first country in the world to give […]
24th July 2013
Many people hold strong views about the Europe Union based on different perspectives about its role , but perhaps we don’t think enough, in the round, about the impact of EU membership and current EU rules and laws on the UK as a whole. Therefore in July 2012 the UK Government launched the so-called “Balance […]
17th July 2013
Working at the UK mission to the UN in New York often meant late nights. But only once was I in the office until three in the morning. It was the morning after the night before, the night the Security Council had voted, around midnight, to refer the crisis in Darfur to the International Criminal […]
16th July 2013
The 2013 Global Innovation Index lists Sweden and the UK as two of the world’s top three countries for performance in innovation, based on a survey of 84 different measures in 142 countries. The British Olympics team had the motto “better never stops”. Similarly with innovation, I think: it’s when you’re at or near the […]
12th July 2013
On 11 July 1995 Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8000 Bosniak men and boys in what the UN had designated as the “safe area” of Srebrenica. The International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia ruled in 2004 that Srebrenica had been an act of genocide. My first job in the Foreign Office was as desk officer for […]
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10th July 2013
The Home Secretary made an announcement to Parliament on 9 July on the UK’s policy towards Justice and Home Affairs in the EU. There’s a lot of law and jargon involved, but I’ll try and keep it as simple as possible! The bottom line is the UK government remains committed to working with EU partners […]
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4th July 2013
It was a delight, as always to be in Visby this week for Almedalen. I spoke at a seminar on the “Swedish super-model” and attended several interesting discussions on Europe, defence policy, Swedish politics and economics. Energy policy and climate change were also themes, as they are for the UK government. Like all EU partners, […]
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