21st December 2012
Along with the OECD Secretariat, and other member state representatives, I’ve been busy finalising 2013 and 2014 OECD work priorities in the last few days (more on those priorities in the New Year – lots of exciting work coming on stream in areas of UK interest). But I did want to quickly go back and reflect on […]
21st December 2012 Paris, France
Christmas is a time to look back at the year and also forward to the next year, and this has been an exceptional year for the UK in many ways. For me it finished on a high note because I was able to be in the Foreign Office in London when The Queen came for […]
6th December 2012 Paris, France
I’m talking to you this morning in the middle of a big conference that we are holding in the Embassy on wind energy. We have about 200 business people, about 50/50 French and British, who are first of all learning about the opportunities in the British energy market.
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26th November 2012 Paris, France
I want to talk to you about two things this week. First of all, the European Union budget. You may have seen in the press last week, in the run up to the European Council at the end of the week, a lot of stories suggesting that Britain was isolated. I saw one headline in […]
20th November 2012 Paris, France
I said last week that I would talk to you about our Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s visit on 14 November. Nick is the leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in the UK. He is a former member of the European Parliament, speaks fluent French and so is able to have his lunchtime discussions with […]
12th November 2012 Paris, France
I’m speaking to you just after the commemorations here of 11 November, when we look back and remember those killed in all the wars in the last hundred years. This was my first time in Paris attending these commemorations and it was the privilege to be at the Arc de Triomphe where the Président de […]
30th October 2012
The International Energy Agency, a sister organisation to the OECD, has been doing some of the world’s leading energy analysis for years, much of it captured in its renowned annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) publication. In recent years its in-depth country studies of Chinese, Indian and Russian energy sectors have been important new contributions to […]
29th October 2012 Paris, France
I wanted to talk to you this week about Franco-British cooperation on crisis management. I had the good fortune to go at the end of last week to the joint naval exercises held off Toulon, in the Mediterranean. This is all part of a process launched at the Lancaster House talks in 2010, where we […]
24th October 2012
Dr O’Dell fell down a well, And broke his collarbone. But doctors should attend the sick, And leave the well alone. (Indian-born) Spike Milligan I was in Delhi last week for the “World Forum on Measuring Progress and Wellbeing” organised by the OECD and the Indian Government. Participants included Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Joe Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs, Richard […]
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19th October 2012 Paris, France
I’ve been thinking this week about commercial diplomacy, that is something that our Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are very keen that the diplomatic network of Embassies around the world should be even more active and engaged in.
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