Category: Foreign Affairs

Andrew Mitchell – 2024 Speech at the Opening of the British High Commission Dodoma Office

The speech made by Andrew Mitchell, the Foreign Office Minister, on 5 April 2023.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Regional Commissioner of Dodoma, officials and honoured guests, mabibi na mbwana, ladies and gentlemen,

Hamjambo! Hello.

Nimefurahi kuwa hapa. I am delighted to be here.

It is an honour to open the UK’s newest overseas office. I’m on a bit of a roll here, a few days ago I was in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, to open our first ever Embassy there.

It is a special privilege to be opening our High Commission in Dodoma in the month that your country celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Union.

Today is not simply a sign of the confidence and value we place in our partnership with your government. It is also an outcome of the warm and enduring ties between our people, nurtured through decades of cooperation and friendship at all levels.

Many notable Tanzanians have studied in the UK, from Julius Nyerere to Her Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

These illustrious names are joined by over 800 former Commonwealth scholars and 300 former Chevening scholars. We are so proud of these brilliant links between our 2 countries and the fabulous cooperation these scholarships have produced.

And as you are aware your excellences, the UK remains Tanzania’s second largest foreign investor, and one of our key bonds is our development partnership.

And we want to invest in it further, drawing renewed inspiration both from Tanzania’s development ambitions and our recently published white paper on international development – which I must urge you to read if you have not done so. It is a compelling page turner that sets out the Britain’s plan for getting the SDGs back on track by 2030. And it is available on our website fcdo.gov.uk.

It was received very well by our partners. And we were so pleased when her excellence President Samia agreed to provide a quote welcoming it. High praise indeed.

And as you take stock of the past 6 decades, you have much to be proud of. Whether it is the long period of peace and social cohesion, or the opening of your economy in the 1990s to drive economic growth, or the progress in improving access to healthcare and education, including the recent achievement of parity of enrolment for girls in primary school.

These are huge achievements all of us can take inspiration from.

On the regional and global stage, we welcome President Samia’s efforts to champion investment in Africa’s human capital and food systems; for her advocacy for gender equality and climate action is particularly commendable.

And we recognise the contributions Tanzania has made over the years to regional peacekeeping and the hosting of refugees, including in the eastern DRC.

I know that you face challenges in making further progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly to reduce extreme poverty and to deliver growth.

I want to assure you that the UK is with you every step of the way as we clearly set out in our white paper. Our development roadmap prioritises mobilising more money from international financial institutions and increasing private sector investment in development.

It is worth noting that around world something like 90% of all jobs are created not by governments but by the private sector.

There are 3 things we think we should focus on.

First, we must reform the international system to better serve your interests in terms of trade, tax, debt, and tackling money laundering and dirty money.

Second, we must work together to tackle global challenges, be it climate change, food insecurity or investing in education and health.

Finally, we must harness innovation and digital transformation, making the best use of technologies, science and research.

We have already hit the ground running. Later today we hope to have the honour of signing a UK-Tanzania Mutual Prosperity Partnership. Strengthening bilateral trade and investment, supporting better jobs and delivering more inclusive growth – I am very excited by what this partnership will enable us to achieve together.

Tackling climate change will be vital in delivering on this agenda. We support President Samia’s ambition to move Tanzania away from the damaging use of charcoal in cooking and to expand the use of renewable energy.

I am therefore delighted that the UK will be spending £5.5 million over the next 2 years on promoting clean cooking, clean energy access and urban resilience. Our programming will help bring clean cooking to 200 schools as well as thousands of households and assist several clean technology businesses to scale up their operations in Tanzania.

We have a responsibility, as we build prosperity, to ensuring opportunities for all to share in it. Something I know is very close to the heart of the Tanzania government.

Since 2015, the Britain has invested over £112 million in building the social safety net for Tanzania’s poorest households. The UK will continue to partner with the Government of Tanzania in its efforts to lift the most vulnerable out of poverty and increase resilience to climate and economic shocks.

We will also work with the government in building a resilient health system, to reduce preventable deaths, respond to disease outbreaks and build the capacity for universal health coverage by 2030. To help drive forward this ambition, I am announcing today that the UK will invest £15 million in strengthening health systems in Tanzania including through a £10 million contribution to the multi-donor Health Basket Fund.

Tanzania is at a crossroads, undergoing a demographic transition. By ensuring women and girls have secure access to quality, affordable, and inclusive family planning services, we can accelerate progress on human capital outcomes as outlined in your Vision 2050.

And that is why I am also delighted to announce today that the UK will be extending its Scaling Up Family Planning programme, which has reached over 4 million women since 2017, by the sum of £12 million, to deliver lifesaving and transformative SRHR services to an additional 900,000 Tanzanians. This programme will help prevent 1,400 maternal deaths, 1 million unintended pregnancies, and 207,000 unsafe abortions.

These initiatives demonstrate Britain’s commitment to our very close cooperation, partnership, and above all, our friendship. And after a period of very considerable budgetary pressure in Britain, I can announce too today that for the next financial year, which starts today, our bilateral programmes with Tanzania, the British and Tanzania development programme will more than triple this year from £17.6 million to £57 million.

So this office will be a little piece of the UK here in Dodoma, setting the stage for the next 60 years. As we work together to deliver for the people of our 2 great countries.

To those of you based in Dodoma, we will now be your jirani [neighbour]. Please do pop in for a cup of tea anytime.

Thank you for welcoming us to the neighbourhood. Asanteni sana.

May 9, 2024
Rishi Sunak – 2024 Defence Speech Made in Warsaw

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Warsaw on 23 April 2024.

My first duty as Prime Minister is the security of the British people.

And fulfilling that profound responsibility is only possible because of you.

Just ten days ago, I gave the order for the RAF to join an international effort…

…intercepting a barrage of Iranian missiles headed towards Israel.

Those pilots, like you, and like every generation of British service men and women before you…

…were willing to put their own safety over the line…

…for the security of others and the defence of our liberties and our values.

From your Regiment’s service in Iraq and Afghanistan…

…to your current role here in Poland, protecting NATO’s eastern flank…

…you have made those sacrifices in the service of our country.

I am truly humbled by your courage and professionalism.

And on behalf of a proud and grateful nation, let me simply say: thank you.

But I haven’t just brought you together today to express my gratitude.

I want to talk to you about how we equip you to do your duty…

…in an increasingly dangerous world.

We have entered a period of history in which competition between countries has sharpened profoundly.

An axis of authoritarian states with different values to ours…

…like Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China…

…are increasingly assertive.

The danger they pose is not new.

But what is new is that these countries – or their proxies…

…are causing more instability, more quickly, in more places at once.

And they’re increasingly acting together…

…making common cause in an attempt to reshape the world order.

Now I know there are some people who will think these are faraway problems.

But they are not.

They pose real risks to the United Kingdom’s security and prosperity.

Russia has already poisoned people on British soil with chemical weapons.

Caused energy bills to soar.

Weaponised migration.

And sent technology to Iran in exchange for weapons, like the Shaheed drones…

…that I saw myself are wreaking such devastation on Ukraine.

Iran themselves have threatened to kill and kidnap people within our borders for exercising their right to free speech.

And used proxies like the Houthis, to attack British ships in the Red Sea…

…disrupting supplies of crucial goods to our high streets.

North Korea, too, is supplying munitions and artillery to Russia…

…and their hackers have targeted British businesses and the NHS.

And Chinese state-affiliated actors have conducted malicious cyber campaigns…

…against British MPs.

China itself is engaged in a huge military modernisation programme.

Potential flashpoints in the Indo-Pacific…

…could have an impact on the global economy far larger even than Covid.

And China is increasingly working with others to try and reshape the world…

…including their so-called ‘unlimited partnership’ with Russia.

So the new assertiveness of these authoritarian states far from our shores must concern us.

Because they are increasingly acting together…

…against the fundamental values that we all hold dear…

…of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law.

Now, we must not overstate the danger.

We’re not on the brink of war.

And nor do we seek it.

And people should feel reassured…

…that the UK’s armed forces are some of the most professional…

…well-trained, well-equipped, and battle-ready in the world.

And I’m incredibly proud of all they’ve achieved.

From patrolling the Arctic Circle as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force…

…to the campaign against Daesh in the deserts of Iraq and Syria.

From protecting the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea…

…to policing the skies above Eastern Europe.

And just look at the investments we’ve made in the last decade.

£40 billion in the British Army…

…who proudly provide one of NATO’s strategic reserves…

…with 16,000 troops deployed to Europe this year.

The Royal Air Force, equipped with new Typhoons, Chinooks, F35s…

…with the GCAP programme delivering new fighter jets with Japan and Italy.

The Royal Navy is a carrier navy once again…

…with 22 new ships and submarines on the way…

…and the historic AUKUS partnership building the most advanced nuclear-powered subs the world has ever known.

And we’ve launched a new national endeavour to invigorate and invest more in our nuclear deterrent.

And all of this is combined with our outstanding diplomatic network…

…development expertise, law enforcement and intelligence agencies…

…and our support for allies – above all the £12bn we’ve provided to Ukraine.

So I’m proud of our record on defence.

And confident in our ability to deter our adversaries.

…and ensure the security of the United Kingdom.

But in a world that’s the most dangerous…

…it’s been since the end of the Cold War…

…we cannot – and must not – be complacent.

As Churchill said, in 1934:

“To urge the preparation of defence is not to assert the imminence of war.

On the contrary, if war were imminent…

…preparations for defence would be too late.”

I believe we must do more…

…to defend our country, our interests, and our values.

So today, I’m announcing…

…the biggest strengthening of our national defence for a generation.

We will increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2.5% of GDP, by 2030.

That starts today.

And rises steadily in each and every year.

Over the next six years, we’ll invest an additional £75bn in our defence.

And it will be fully funded with no increase in borrowing or debt.

So this is not some vague aspiration for the future.

We have a clear plan for what we’ll spend, when we’ll spend it, and how we pay for it.

A plan that makes the United Kingdom by far the largest defence power in Europe – and second largest in NATO.

Today is a landmark moment in the defence of the United Kingdom.

This is a generational investment in British security and British prosperity.

It makes us safer at home and stronger abroad.

Now we have three immediate priorities for this new investment.

First, we will put the UK’s own defence industry on a war footing.

One of the central lessons of the war in Ukraine…

…is that we need deeper stockpiles of munitions…

…and for industry to be able to replenish them more quickly.

So today, we’re giving £10bn in munitions to give industry long-term funding certainty…

…backed by long-term contracts…

…so they can produce more, be readier to surge capacity…

…and move to ‘always on’ production, when required.

From surface-to-air-missiles made in Bolton…

…to anti-tank weapons in Belfast…

…we will replenish our stockpiles…

…all while supporting British jobs right across the Union.

But it’s not just about investing more – we must invest better.

For too long, too much of our defence procurement…

…has been over-complex, over-budget, and over-time.

So we are making radical reforms to our procurement model…

…to make sure this new investment delivers value for money.

And to encourage private sector investment into defence production…

…I can also announce today that we’re going to put beyond doubt that defence investment…

…does count towards environmental, social and governance assessments.

There is nothing more ethical than defending our way of life from those who threaten it.

Now all of this will put us at the forefront of the global defence industry…

…allow us to hugely ramp up defence production…

…and give our armed forces the capability they need to keep us safe.

But as in so many areas of our lives, technology is changing the face of war.

So our second immediate priority is innovation and new technology.

We need to innovate and adapt faster than our adversaries…

…in space and cyberspace just as much as land, sea, and air.

Look at Ukraine.

Many aspects of the war would be familiar to a soldier from WWI or II

Yet others would be unimaginably different.

Like the fact that cheap, high-tech, autonomous drones could disable large parts of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

The good news is that innovation is already one of our greatest strengths.

The UK’s own Dragonfire laser directed energy weapon…

…costs only £10 a shot…

…yet is accurate enough to hit a £1 coin from a kilometre away.

And today we’re going further.

We will increase defence R&D to at minimum to 5% of the defence budget.

Invest far more in autonomous drones.

And we will set up a new Defence Innovation Agency.

So that for the first time, decisions about defence innovation…

…will be brought together in a single, strategic agency…

…that will be freed from red tape …

…and work with the private sector on emerging new technologies.

Now third, we must support Ukraine for the long term.

Since the Cold War ended, the freedom of our continent has been based on a simple idea:

That it is for people to decide the fate of their countries, not foreign armies.

But allow Putin to win in Ukraine…

…and that principle of sovereignty would be undermined.

We would be dragged back to a world…

…where brute force, rather than the democratic will of free peoples…

…would shape borders and decide futures.

And Putin will not stop in Ukraine.

Win there, and he – and indeed others – will be emboldened.

He has the desire, if not yet the capacity, to attack other countries in Europe…

…potentially including NATO allies, who we would be bound to defend…

…just as they are bound to defend us.

The costs of failing to support Ukraine now will be far greater than the costs of repelling Putin.

Because only if he fails will he and other adversaries be deterred.

That is why the United Kingdom…

…whose history of standing up to dictators is so much part of our national consciousness…

…has come together with our allies to stand with Ukraine from the very start.

Today we will go further.

We will send Ukraine an additional half a billion pounds , hitting £3 billion of support this year.

And we’ll provide them with largest-ever package of UK military equipment.

This will include more than 400 vehicles…

…4 million rounds of ammunition…

…60 boats and offshore raiding craft…

…vital air defences…

…and long-range precision-guided Storm Shadow missiles.

And as we make our historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP…

…we’ll move past this stop-start, piecemeal way of backing Ukraine…

…so that alongside our long-term security guarantee…

…we are today providing a long-term funding guarantee…

…of at least the current level of military support to Ukraine, for every year it is needed.

That is the longest commitment any nation has provided.

And it shows that Ukraine is not alone, and Ukraine will never be alone.

A decade ago, as Russian tanks rolled into Crimea…

…and the fight against ISIL raged across the Middle East…

…NATO allies came together in Wales, and reached an historic agreement…

…to increase their defence budgets to 2% of GDP.

Back then, the UK was one of only 4 countries who did so.

Today, there are 11.

And I believe we will look back on this moment…

…as a similar turning point in European security.

Because for all that we welcome the news over the weekend…

…that the US Congress agreed a new package of aid for Ukraine…

…support that will be indispensable on the frontline…

…this is not the moment for complacency.

We cannot keep expecting America to pay any price or bear any burden…

…if we ourselves are unwilling to make greater sacrifices for our own security.

So I’m proud that the United Kingdom is increasing our defence spending to £87bn a year…

…the biggest strengthening of our national defence in a generation…

…guaranteeing our position as the second largest defence power in NATO, after the US.

All across Europe…

…countries like Poland, Germany, Norway and the Baltic nations…

…are stepping up to take greater responsibility for our own security.

And I’m confident that whether in months or years…

…others will follow, too.

And at this turning point in European security, if 2.5% becomes a new benchmark for all NATO partners to reach…

…allied defence spending would increase by over £140 billion.

That would provide a level of safety and security for the British people…

…and the peoples of all allied nations…

…that far outstrips anything we could achieve alone.

To conclude, we did not choose this moment. But it falls to us to meet it.

In a world of increasing threats, we must show our enemies that we are resolute and determined.

That their attempts to destabilise our world or redraw its borders by force will fail.

That with our friends and allies, we will be at the forefront of the defence of the free, democratic world.

And under my leadership, the United Kingdom will always stand up for our interests…

…deter our enemies, and defend our values.

May 8, 2024
Lucy Frazer – 2024 Statement on Neutral Athletes from Russia and Belarus in International Sport

The statement made by Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on 19 April 2024.

Putin’s devastating war against Ukraine is barbaric and evil, and the UK Government continues to stand firmly with our Ukrainian allies.

In the course of the war, Russia has killed scores of Ukrainian athletes and destroyed Ukraine’s sporting infrastructure.

The Minister for Sport and I are personally committed to supporting Ukraine in the face of Putin’s illegal invasion. That is why we took action and led a coalition of 36 countries to protect the integrity of international sport and ensure that athletes representing Russia and Belarus are unable to compete.

It is for the independent international sports bodies, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and FIFA, to set the rules for participation in their events. But our position is clear. Putin’s regime does not deserve to see its athletes line up on the starting blocks of races or stand on podiums during medal ceremonies as representatives of their countries.

This has never been about punishing individual Russian or Belarusian athletes.

What we stand against is athletes competing representing the states of Russia and Belarus.

We continue to vigorously oppose Russian and Belarusian state participation. Our policy has never been a complete and total ban on neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus participating at all. Athletes from Russia and Belarus have been able to compete in the UK as neutral athletes since the invasion. For example, our guidance allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at tennis competitions under strict neutrality conditions.

Instead, our efforts – and the efforts of our international coalition – have been focused on urging the IOC and IPC to change their approach, apply the strictest neutrality conditions possible and ensure they are implemented rigorously.

After two years of concerted lobbying, they have done that. And the result is that the number of athletes from Russia and Belarus expected to participate in the Olympics is in the tens, not hundreds.

As a result, we have written to the IOC and IPC noting that their final neutrality rules for Paris achieve the widely accepted baseline of ensuring that Russia and Belarus are not represented as states in international sport. Our focus now turns to ensuring these rules are stringently enforced and maintained as long as the war goes on.

April 30, 2024
Oliver Dowden – 2024 Speech on Economic Security

The speech made by Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, on 18 April 2024.

We discuss economic security against the backdrop of Iran’s reckless and dangerous attack against Israel…

… and six months since the terrorist outrage of October 7th with Hamas still holding innocent people hostage.

It has been over two years since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine…

…meanwhile, China’s aggression in Xinjiang, the South China Sea, and Hong Kong demonstrates its disregard for the rules based order.

We have returned to substrata geopolitical competition – and tension – at levels not seen since the Cold War.

While we are not in open hostilities – we are in cyber and economic contestation with an increasing range of state and non-state actors.

At a time when the global economy is much more integrated…

… and our strategic competitors play a far more impactful role…

… our economic and security interests are intertwined as never before.

We have demonstrated our strength in the face of these challenges.

We have restored stability after the twin shocks of Covid, and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine….

… and continue to create the conditions for business to flourish.

As the Deputy Prime Minister of a G7 country with the highest inward investment in Europe…

…the continent’s biggest tech sector…

…the biggest exporter of services after the US…

… and the world’s most competitive financial centre…

…I know we must be doing something right.

Inflation has been halved…

… real household disposable income is on the rise…

… and the pace of growth is increasing.

That is all testament to the Great British economic model which is the key to our long-term prosperity…

…a model based on open markets … free trade … and academic liberty…

…all underpinned by the rule of law.

But we must also be clear-eyed that one of the great strengths of our system – its openness – also brings vulnerabilities.

Covid, and Russia’s war in Ukraine both laid bare the interconnectedness of global supply chains…

…and the extent to which they can be exploited:

…Russia driving up the price of gas…

… Chinese acts of economic coercion.

Indeed, the CCP is seeking to make the world both increasingly dependent on China; whilst making itself less dependent on everyone else..

Meanwhile, our open economy is being targeted by state-based actors and their proxies.

Across our inbound and outbound investment flows, our imports and exports, and our academic collaborations…

… the whole spectrum of our economic security interests is under threat.

And the nature of these threats is evolving.

So as our protections increase in one area, new routes of attack emerge.

And so our response must evolve in kind.

Our toolkits may be actor agnostic. But, be in no doubt that, we, the leaders who wield these tools, are clear about where the threats are currently coming from.

In short, while the financial crash and pandemic exposed the economic risks of globalisation…

…today’s rising geopolitical competition is demonstrating the security risks behind such integration.

That confronts us with an active choice.

A careful balancing act between our freedoms, our prosperity, and our security.

There are those that see this simplistically…

…who advocate a move to a polarised world…

…where we detach ourselves from those who do not share our values, or who don’t play by our rules.

That is not the approach of the UK Government.

We will not decouple from the global economy. We will continue to default to openness. We must.

That is what generates growth, guarantees our prosperity, and enables us to invest in our security.

There is no greater source of resilience than a strong economy.

So while we won’t decouple; we must de-risk;

Our rules must constantly adapt.

And politicians need to be honest about how we are responding:

We have a plan, and I want to be open about that plan.

Fundamentally, we need to tighten our controls over the routes by which the UK plugs into the global economy…

… but in a way that allows investment and trade to flow as freely as possible.

Those routes are diverse and complex. So our corresponding response needs to be subtle and agile.

It starts with inbound investment.

A great source of prosperity and pride for our country.

I want to be crystal clear with our investment partners – the UK welcomes inbound investment, we are open for business, and my presumption will always be in favour of investment.

But if we allow money to flow into our country unchecked, we leave ourselves open to abuse.

This is the area of economic security where we are most developed, thanks to the National Security and Investment Act.

Since coming into force, it has functioned well.

The government has reviewed over 1,700 notifications and issued 20 final orders.

Only 7% of notified transactions were called in for scrutiny, and only 1% were issued a final order.

So the vast majority of businesses have had zero interaction with the regime, nor do we want them to.

It typifies what is known as the small garden, high fence approach…

… safeguarding the UK against the small number of investments that could be harmful to our national security, while leaving the vast majority of deals unaffected.

That is not to say investment into sensitive areas is off limits…

…but it must be managed in a way that protects our national security at the same time as driving growth.

Indeed – to extend the metaphor just a little further – just as important as the garden is the ground that surrounds it.

Beyond the fence should lie a vast and fertile landscape where trade and investment thrive.

So to tend to this, we are constantly monitoring the Act’s performance to ensure it stays ahead of threats, while remaining as pro-business as possible.

So today I have published the Government’s response to my recent Call for Evidence…

…setting out the important next steps we will take to fine tune the NSI system:

I will shortly publish an updated statement setting out how I use the powers under the Act…

…including what we are seeking to protect and how we assess risk.

And we will publish updated marked guidance, including how the Act can apply to academia.

We will also update the mandatory area definitions…

…including new definitions for critical minerals and semiconductors…

and we will consult in the coming weeks.

And finally, we will consider targeted legislative exemptions from the Act’s mandatory notification requirements.

Likewise, when it comes to exports, we must ensure that the goods and technologies we sell overseas…

…are not being used to harm our own national interest, or in a way that runs counter to our values.

That is why we have an Export Controls regime, which we have significantly enhanced…

…responding specifically to risks around new technologies such as quantum.

Having reviewed the impact of these changes, we are confident we have a strong set of tools to prevent exports of concern.

But we do recognise that this stronger regime has posed challenges to a small number of UK exporters.

And really this is an indication of the trade-offs that the Government must navigate.

And so we will consult on improvements to our controls on emerging technologies.

We must ensure our system is flexible enough to deal with rapidly emerging threats…

…that cases are processed more quickly and efficiently…

… and that we maintain close collaboration with UK researchers and businesses.

We also connect to the global economy through the import of goods and services.

Again, we see deliberate attempts at weaponising import and export links through coercion …

…including trade restrictions by China against Lithuania and by Russia against Ecuador.

We have also seen examples where public sector procurement poses risks to national security…

…from surveillance systems…to telecoms infrastructure…each featuring increased capability and connectivity.

That is why I banned Huawei from our 5G networks, and Chinese surveillance equipment from key Government sites.

It is not the role of Government to mandate sources of supply across the whole economy.

We do, though, want business to be aware of the risks of excessive dependence…

…and where possible to work with us to reduce it.

And so we will continue to develop the UK’s Anti-Coercion Toolkit…

… including investing in civil service capability…

… increasing stress testing and exercising…

… with more security-cleared officials…

… and working with the G7 and other partners to tackle future threats.

But there is one further, more challenging, area of economic security…

…one that has concerned both us and our allies.

And that is outward direct investment.

Now of course the UK is a major source of global investment….

…one of the few global financial centres.

UK investors hold 14 trillion pounds of assets overseas…

… in turn generating hundreds of billions of pounds annually.

Yet a careful review of the evidence suggests it is possible that a very small proportion of outbound investments could present national security issues.

Indeed, they might be fuelling technological advances that enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of countries of concern.

The data is limited, but over the next year we will engage with G7 allies and businesses to better understand this risk…

…and how our tools can mitigate it.

In parallel we will evaluate whether further action is warranted.

We are launching a dedicated analytical team to assess the risk in sensitive sectors…

…and we will issue public guidance on how the existing NSI powers allow the Government to intervene in certain outbound investment transactions.

And we are refreshing and enhancing the National Protective Security Authority’s ‘Secure Business’ campaign.

So this is designed to ensure businesses can make better informed investment decisions.

This plan of action is based on reassurance, protection, and engagement…

…giving British business the clarity and coherence they need to plan and to thrive.

We are not seeking to dampen animal spirits…

…instead we aim to be precise, proportionate and coordinated.

It is why I launched the public-private forum on economic security last year…

…and why we put businesses at the heart of devising the National Cyber Security Centre, the National Protective Security Authority and the Investment Security Unit.

And we will continue to iterate that support…

…in particular helping smaller businesses to engage with government.

I can announce that today the NPSA and NCSC are launching a new tool…

… to help small tech businesses and university spinouts assess and improve their security.

Finally, we are coordinating closely with our universities.

Our academic base is a jewel in our crown…

…with four of the world’s top ten institutions.

Just as openness has been crucial to our economic success…

…internationalism has been vital to our academic prowess.

The vast majority of that collaboration is to be welcomed and applauded.

We should be proud that much of the cutting-edge development in sensitive technologies is happening at our universities.

But this also has the potential to become a chink in our armoury.

This is not about erecting fences around entire institutions or areas of research.

However, it is right that we look at who has access to research frontiers in the most sensitive disciplines.

Similarly, we must ensure that some universities’ reliance on foreign funding does not become a dependency by which they can be influenced, exploited, or even coerced.

Or indeed, find themselves vulnerable in the fallout from heightened geopolitical tensions.

That’s why the government has been conducting a review into academic security…

… and I will be convening a round-table of university Vice Chancellors in the coming weeks to discuss our findings…

…and our proposed response.

In all of this, we do not act alone.

We are working with our allies around the world…

…evolving our trading relationships into economic security partnerships, such as the Atlantic Declaration with the United States…

…and the G7 Coordination Platform on economic coercion.

Together, we will succeed in protecting our national security by safeguarding our economic security.

Because what unites us … unlike our adversaries … is our values.

Our societies prize innovation, ideas and the successes of individuals.

We celebrate what we can make – not what we can take.

We know that a creative, open, outward-facing economy is a strong economy…

…and that a strong economy makes us all more secure.

In these uncertain times, that economic model must adapt and respond to new threats…

…but it must also remain true to the principles which have yielded prosperity, opportunity and security in the past.

Our prosperity and our security are two sides of the same coin.

We do not make ourselves more secure by being less open…

Instead we redouble our efforts to make our open market as secure as possible.

And in doing so we safeguard the United Kingdom’s position as the best place in the world …

…to invest …

…to study …

…to trade with…

…to live…

… and to prosper.

And long may that continue.

April 23, 2024
Rishi Sunak – 2024 Statement on the Iranian Attack on Israel

The statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 13 April 2024.

I condemn in the strongest terms the Iranian regime’s reckless attack against Israel. These strikes risk inflaming tensions and destabilising the region. Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard.

The UK will continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners, including Jordan and Iraq. Alongside our allies, we are urgently working to stabilise the situation and prevent further escalation. No one wants to see more bloodshed.

April 17, 2024
Nusrat Ghani – 2024 Speech on Ukraine’s Reconstruction

The speech made by Nusrat Ghani, the Minister for Europe, in Greece on 11 April 2024.

Good afternoon – and thank you for inviting me to say a few words.

Over two years ago, when the first tanks thundered towards Kyiv, Putin would have felt invincible.

But events since have shown how foolish he was.

Foolish enough to underestimate Ukraine’s bravery.

Foolish enough to think his military’s incompetence would go unnoticed.

And foolish enough to doubt the West’s resolve to stand so firmly behind Ukraine.

The twisted lies Putin spreads to justify the invasion and mask his failures cannot hide a simple truth.

He believes he can take territories and re-draw borders, when he wants, where he wants…

…and he believes he can get away with it every single time.

Well, not this time.

Ukraine must win. Why? Because our collective security is at stake.

A defeat will invite more aggression. A victory will deter it.

The question is not whether we have the ability to achieve this – Ukraine has shown it can defend itself. The question is whether we have the will to see it through.

By defending Ukraine, we defend the values in the UN charter we all subscribe to. The values which have allowed us to prosper.

Respect for sovereignty is not just about maintaining lines on a map. It is about having the freedom to choose how we want to live.

All countries have that right – and Ukraine is fighting to uphold that right for all of us.

The UK was privileged to play its part in welcoming Ukrainians forced from their homes. But they have a right to return and we collectively have an obligation to enable them to do so.

Putin wants them out because that is how he can destroy, displace and devalue Ukrainian identity and culture.

We cannot hand him what he craves.

We must also honour the legacy of Navalny and his unwavering commitment to Russian democracy. I applaud Yulia’s courage and resilience.

Her foundation will continue Navalny’s fight, and that remains the best tribute to his enduring vision.

So, how can we restore freedom, prosperity and democracy in Ukraine?

I would like to highlight the three key ways in which the UK is helping to rebuild its economy.

First, by committing financially. Over the last two years, we have provided nearly 6 billion dollars of non-military support.

We are boosting its fiscal firepower. Last month, we worked with the World Bank to speed up and increase the size of loans.

As a result, the UK and Japan are providing one and a half billion dollars to help with immediate pressures.

We and our G7 partners have also been clear – Russia must pay for the damage it has caused. We will pursue all routes through which Russian assets can be used to support Ukraine.

Second, by harnessing the power of the private sector. The World Bank judges recovery will require almost half a trillion US dollars.

Daunting as it sounds, it is achievable if we tap into the capital, creativity and expertise of businesses.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference in London last year mobilised international partners, including the private sector, raising a staggering 60 billion US dollars of support.

We of course have further to go – but it was a clear indication of what we can achieve together.

Last year, I also personally oversaw the creation of a war-risk insurance scheme to protect and encourage UK businesses supporting Ukraine.

Finally, we are helping by stimulating Ukraine’s trading industry. Before the invasion, it was a leading exporter of food, grains, steel and much more.

There is no reason why that should not be the case once again.

So, the UK is undertaking a series of trade missions to strengthen long-term cooperation and galvanise investment into Ukraine.

Make no mistake. This is the defining struggle of our generation. The make-or-break moment is this year.

The costs of failing to support Ukraine now will be far greater than the costs of repelling Putin.

That is why we must devote our hard-worked resources and precious time to this collective endeavour.

There is so much to do and so little time to do it.

I’ll just finish on what President Zelensky put so well:

When asked what will bring the end of the war, we used to say “peace”.

Now, we say “victory”.

Thank you.

April 17, 2024
David Cameron – 2024 Statement on Vladimir Kara-Murza

The statement made by David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, on 11 April 2024.

Two years on from Vladimir Kara-Murza’s arrest on fabricated charges, I urge the Russian authorities to release him immediately on humanitarian grounds.

A committed human rights activist striving for a democratic Russia, and an outspoken critic of the war in Ukraine, Mr Kara-Murza was considered a threat by the Kremlin. Putin locked him up in a bid to silence him.

We must call out Russia’s callous disregard for his declining health. The victim of two separate poisoning attempts prior to his imprisonment, Mr Kara-Murza is now being subjected to degrading and inhumane conditions in prison, clearly designed to further damage his physical and mental well-being. He has been refused the urgent medical treatment he so desperately needs.

Through diplomatic interventions at the highest levels, financial sanctions targeted at those behind his poisoning and imprisonment, and by raising his case on the international stage, we are sending a clear message that the UK will not stand for this abhorrent treatment of one of our citizens.

Russia’s depraved treatment of political prisoners must end.

April 16, 2024
David Cameron – 2024 Speech on the Future Role of the NATO Alliance

The speech made by David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, on 3 April 2024.

Great to be here, in this house that has many memories for me as you can imagine, when I think of all those European Councils, where I spent late nights and early mornings, and it’s very good to be back.

Seventy five years. NATO is 75 years old. I am 57 years old. But I hope there’s more than just the symmetry of that that I bring to this discussion. I played my part in NATO’s development and am very proud I chaired the Cardiff Summit in 2014, when I think at that stage, just 3 countries met the 2% spending floor, not ceiling, floor, and now we’re in a situation where over 20 countries out of 32 meet that target and NATO is stronger.

I always feel that NATO wasn’t something I had to learn about or understand: I grew up with it. I was born and brought up between Greenham Common, where the cruise missiles were stationed, and Aldermaston, where our nuclear programme was centred. The first countries I visited as an adult were the Soviet Union and Eastern Union. So I never needed reminding or understanding of the vital importance of NATO in our national life.

And it’s been extraordinary, having supported it all through its quiet years – years in which some people whether it had a functioning brain – I never lost faith in NATO. I’ve always set the faith in NATO and it’s great to be celebrating its 75th anniversary. And the 75th anniversary when it is so much stronger today than it has been for years.

And today of course, at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting we welcomed Sweden for the first time as a full participant. And to bring 2 countries, Finland and Sweden, into NATO, both so highly capable militarily, so financially strong, so knowledgeable about the region, and their military obligations definitely makes NATO stronger.

Why is NATO so successful? What is next for NATO? What will truly determine its success or failure in the years ahead?

Why so successful? You’d have to back to 1948 and something Ernest Bevin said, he said: ‘decisions we take now will be vital to the future peace of the world’. That was absolutely prophetic and right. At the heart of NATO’s success is the incredible simplicity of Article Five: an attack on one is an attack on all is something all participants and all people could understand.

And of course, it was combined with that sense when it was founded of a clear and growing threat. And Most of NATO’s life has had a clear threat; we certainly have that today. Its success is clearly based on its continued expansion.

What is next for NATO? While it’s clear NATO is not a participant in the conflict in Ukraine, the outcome of that war what happens in Ukraine is, in my view, absolutely vital to the future of Ukraine, and that is why one of the reasons why Britain so strongly supports Ukraine struggle.

I was meeting earlier with the Slovak Foreign Minister and I pointed out something that not a lot of people know, that my closest relative who was in politics, Duff Cooper, who resigned in 1938 because of the Munich Conference and the decision to dismember Czechoslovakia. To me what we face today is as simple as that. We have a tyrant in Europe who is trying to redraw borders by force. You can appease that approach or you can confront that approach, which is undoubtedly the right thing to do, to confront.

And that is what we’re doing by giving Ukraine such strong support. I see with Ukraine 2 futures that are open to NATO, to Europe and countries like Britain: there is a future where we support Ukraine, where Putin does not win in Ukraine, where Ukraine recovers its territory and is capable of having a just peace.

That future is an incredibly bright one for Britain, for Europe, for NATO – it’s a future where NATO will be strong, everyone will see the strength of its alliance, everyone will recognise Ukraine should be and will be a part of NATO, NATO’s capability will grow and people will see that we in the West are capable of standing up to a threat of this magnitude.

But there is another future, for NATO, the West, Britain and that is one where we allow Ukraine to fail and Putin to succeed; and the celebrations will be held in Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and North Korea. That is a very bleak future: not only because I believe other European countries would be at risk but I think all around the world people will look around and wonder how willing to stand up for our Allies, how reliable we were as an Ally.

And even, the absolute key to NATO of Article 5, Allies in Europe will start looking at each other and wondering how much they can really trust each other, when they said they were going to stand up for each other and oppose aggression. I think the biggest test for European nations is this issue of Ukraine and that is why it is my number one priority as Foreign Secretary and something that this government is giving so much effort and thought and resources to.

But of course it’s not the only threat and it’s not the only issue that NATO has to face in terms of what is next. we face an incredibly dangerous and difficult and disputation relational world with so many conflicts. We have the instability in the Middle East instability in Africa, more conflicts in Africa than perhaps we’ve had for the last 40 years.

And of course, we had a timely reminder last week with the issue of Chinese, the cyber attacks on great hardware blocks, that we face threats, not only in terms of the Russian threat, but also the threat that we face, instability to our South and in the Indo-Pacific reaching into our own region. NATO has a role to play in addressing all of those threats. The UK is determined to support all the NATO strategies in dealing with those threats.

The final point I wanted to make is, what will determine the success or failure of NATO? There are some simple, Treasury-like technical answers to that: success will depend on more and more countries reaching 2% or more countries seeing 2% as a floor and not a ceiling and we have seen such great progress there.

A large part of the answer will be how capable NATO is of modernising all our armed forces and making sure their compatibility interoperability. A lot of NATO success will depend on when we make Ukraine a member, with its professional and capable armed forces.

But I would say the biggest determinant of success or failure goes back to what I said at the start: I grew up believing in NATO because it had a relevance to my life. If you came of age politically in the 1980s, you could see the importance of the solidarity that NATO brought, you could see the importance of the strong defence that kept Europe and Britain safe. But can we actually say that, about future generations, you haven’t grown up with that knowledge but have grown up in a different situation?

And I think we have to win the argument for NATO all over again with a new generation. A generation that can see yes, the threat from Russia. We need to go back to a foundational argument, which is this, that fundamentally the greatness of NATO is that it allows countries to choose their own future.

When I looked at my colleagues from Latvia, Lithuania Estonia, when I look at Radek Sikorski from people whose countries who chose to join NATO after the fall of the Iron Curtain, NATO membership is really what gave them the ability to make a choice about the sort of country they would be and the values they would follow.

That’s an incredibly strong values-based argument that a younger generation can understand and see. I just think the one figure to back it up: when the Iron Curtain fell, Poland recovered its ability to govern itself and its economy was 3 times the size of that of Belarus; today it’s 10 times the size.

There’s no reason why Ukraine is so many times poorer than Poland, very similar countries, very similar parts of the world. It’s the ability NATO gives to allow countries to choose to be democracies, to choose to have rights and to choose to have the rule of law, to adopt an open-market trading system and form those sorts of relations with other countries.

That’s the argument I think we need to make today and that is the argument that can help us to win all over again the backing for NATO, that it will need, as we ask our publics to fund and support the defence budgets and NATO budgets, as we ask NATO to do more, not just in supporting what we’re doing in UKR but also supporting what we need to do in a more unstable and more unsafe words.

So I feel more confident as a 57 year-old supporting a 75 year-old that I’m backing a winner: it’s been a winner for 75 years, it’s been it’s been the most successful defensive alliance in the history of the world and if we back it financially, and back it in its expansion and also back it with values-based arguments, there’s no reason it won’t continue have another 75 years of extraordinary success.

April 11, 2024
Keir Starmer – 2024 Statement Condemning Israeli Attack on Aid Workers

The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 2 April 2024.

Reports of the death of British nationals – among others from World Central Kitchen – in an Israeli strike on Gaza are horrifying. Our thoughts are with the families of all of those killed.

We condemn this strike. There must be a full investigation and those responsible must be held to account.

Humanitarian workers put their lives in danger to serve others. Their deaths are outrageous and unacceptable – and it is not the first time aid workers have come under fire in Israel’s campaign. International law must be upheld and humanitarian workers must be protected so that they can deliver the aid that is so desperately needed.

This war must stop now. Far too many innocent people have died in this conflict and more than a million are facing starvation. Labour repeats our call for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages and full humanitarian access into Gaza.

April 2, 2024
David Cameron – 2024 Statement on Aid Worker Deaths in Gaza

The statement made by David Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, on 2 April 2024.

The news of the airstrike that killed World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza is deeply distressing.

These were people who were working to deliver life-saving aid to those who desperately need it.

It is essential that humanitarian workers are protected and able to carry out their work.

We have called on Israel to immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened.

April 2, 2024