This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of UK in Sweden

6th December 2012

Facing up to the economic chill: Britain’s response

As winter sets in here, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered what’s called the Autumn Statement  to Parliament in London on 5 December.

The Government’s economic strategy is focussed on reducing the deficit, restoring stability, rebalancing the economy and equipping the UK to compete in the global race.

The government’s new decisions relate to three key priorities:

Protecting the economy

Slow growth in the eurozone and other factors are leading to a more subdued and uneven recovery than expected with growth weaker and inflation higher than forecast. So the government plans::

•    funding £5.5 billion of additional infrastructure investment and support for businesses;
•    Tax measures that support growth, reward work, help with the cost of living and ensure that those with the most contribute the most.

Growth

To enable the UK to compete with emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil, the Government is taking action to rebalance and strengthen the economy while supporting those who want to work hard and get on, including:

•    A further one per cent cut in the main rate of corporation tax from April 2014, to 21 per cent;
•    Creation of a £1 billion Business Bank to help smaller businesses access finance and support;
•    Enabling UK Export Finance to provide up to £1.5 billion in loans to finance small firms’ exports;
•    Increased funding for UK Trade and Investments and extra support for the GREAT campaign to showcase Britain’s capabilities.

Fairness

Fairness is a fundamental aspect of our plans to reduce the deficit and protect the economy.  The Government will help to ensure that it pays to work, supporting pensioners and those most in need, by:

•    Supporting those on low and middle incomes by increasing the personal allowance:
•    Increasing the basic State Pension by 2.5 per cent;
•    Targeting the promoters of aggressive tax avoidance schemes and the closure of loopholes;
•    Tackling offshore tax evasion by the creation of a dedicated HMRC unit, maintaining the momentum from the Government’s recent agreements with Switzerland and the US.

The government has also launched a major exercise to evaluate the impact of the EU on the UK. I’ll write about that in my next blog….

About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide…

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.

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