15th February 2013
As Carl Bildt underlined in the Riksdag, the US is Europe’s main international partner, on the security and prosperity agendas. So the UK government welcomes, as Sweden does, President Obama’s call in his State of the Union Speech last night for what he called “a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” with the EU. Britain has […]
4th February 2013
Last week, two notable “green” events came to my attention. First, the UK government launched The Green Deal. This encourages property owners to make energy-saving improvements by allowing them to off-set costs against reductions in their bills. In other words, you can now pay for the the improvements over time on your electricity bill, rather […]
30th January 2013
The British government, like Sweden, is a strong supporter of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Our Prime Minister is honoured to be co-chairing the UN High Level Panel on the future of international development, which will make recommendations later this year on what the new international agenda should be after 2015, when the MDGs are […]
25th January 2013
As you will have seen, the British Prime Minister made an important speech on the future of the EU in London on 23 January. The PM’s speech reiterates his commitment to keeping the UK in the EU, at the heart of the Single Market, but also leading EU action on energy, climate change, development, foreign […]
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15th January 2013
The SIN (Science and Innovation Network) is a UK government venture, which builds opportunities for the UK scientific community to enter into partnerships with policy, business and academic counterparts around the world. Located in about 30 countries around the world, the network is made up of about 90 staff. Their goal is to highlight innovation […]
8th January 2013
First and foremost, happy New Year. I hope 2013 is a great year for all of you. Late 2012 marked the mid-point of the UK Coalition government’s five year term and this week the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister published the Government’s own mid-term review. Given the interest in Sweden on the UK’s approach […]
19th December 2012
This is my last blog of the year. Many thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my ramblings. Herewith twelve personal highlights from a fascinating, fun and fast-moving year in Sweden: January saw the first of many Ministerial visits this year. Lord Green, our Business Minister came for a big meeting […]
17th December 2012
The latest round of international talks on climate change ended last weekend in Doha. One of my previous postings was at the UK Mission to the UN so I have firsthand experience of how exhausting and difficult these huge international negotiations can be. From a distance, the outcome from Doha looks like a modest step […]
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12th December 2012
Today my blog in the Local, “The Diplomatic Dispatch” lives up to its name, as I post the text of the diplomatic telegram I sent back to London yesterday about Britain’s Sir John Gurdon’s Nobel prize win. I presented John with a copy of the text yesterday and he liked it, so I hope it […]
Read more on FAILURES, FROGS AND FINDINGS, BRITAIN’S 2012 NOBEL LAUREATE | Reply
10th December 2012
Britain joined the EU (or the EEC as it then was) on 1 January 1973. To say the least the EU (and the UK) has changed a lot since then. For most of that period there’s been a lively debate on what the impact of EU membership is on the UK. Our government is clear […]
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