The statement made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 14 May 2023.
I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and militant factions in Gaza, brokered by Egypt. The ceasefire must now be honoured to prevent the loss of further civilian life.
The UK will support all efforts to promote dialogue and create a pathway towards sustainable peace.
The statement made by Chris Philp, the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, in the House of Commons on 9 May 2023.
The coronation was a once-in-a-generation moment, a moment of national pride and a moment when the eyes of the world were upon us. It was a ceremony with roots over a millennium old, marking a renewed dedication to service by His Majesty the King in this new reign. The coronation went smoothly and without disruption. I thank the 11,500 police officers who were on duty alongside 6,500 military personnel and many civilians.
Today, Commissioner Mark Rowley has outlined the intelligence picture in the hours leading up to the coronation. It included more than one plot to cause severe disruption by placing activated rape alarms in the path of horses to induce a stampede and a separate plot to douse participants in the procession with paint. That was the context: a once in a generation national moment facing specific intelligence threats about multiple, well-organised plots to disrupt it. The focus of the police was, rightly, on ensuring that the momentous occasion passed safely and without major disruption. That was successful. All plots to disrupt the coronation were foiled by a combination of intelligence work and proactive vigilant policing on the ground. I would like to thank the police and congratulate them on that success.
At the same time, extensive—[Interruption.] Wait for it. At the same time, extensive planning ensured that protests could take place. That was also successful. Hundreds of protesters exercised their right to peaceful protest, including a large group numbering in the hundreds in and around Trafalgar Square. Where the police reasonably believed they had grounds for arrest, they acted. The latest information is that 64 arrests were made. I will not comment on individual cases or specific decisions, but the arrests included a person wanted for sexual offences, people equipped to commit criminal damage with large quantities of paint, and arrests on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, often backed by intelligence. The Met’s update last night included regret—to use its word—that six people arrested could not join the hundreds protesting in Trafalgar Square and nearby. The Met confirmed that those six people have now had their bail cancelled with no further action.
The police are operationally independent and it is primarily for the Mayor of London to hold the Met to account, but let us be clear: at the weekend officers had to make difficult judgments in fast time, in a highly pressured situation against a threatening intelligence picture. I thank the police for doing that, for delivering a successful a coronation and for enabling safe, peaceful protests.
The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a Minister of State at the Foreign Office, on 9 May 2023.
Thank you, Juan-Lucas, and welcome friends, colleagues and our Breakthrough co-lead, Egypt. I want to thank our hosts, and offer congratulations to the USA and UAE for their global leadership on AIM for Climate, which has spurred on a wonderful group of partners in this race we are all in to innovate for a more resilient and sustainable food system.
Because as we meet, our food systems continue to be rocked by the effects of the climate crisis and armed conflicts, including Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. A cruel act, which has also caused turmoil in food, fertiliser and fuel markets, triggering economic instability and plunging millions into food insecurity. This turmoil has contributed to increasing the number of food-insecure people around the world, currently standing at nearly 350 million people.
And yet, instability is only one of the risks that we face. Climate change and the steady erosion of our ecosystems pose a continuing severe threat. And agriculture itself is the second largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of biodiversity loss, and the leading driver of deforestation.
So innovation has never been more urgent. With a lot of research and a little ingenuity, we can rise to the challenge. Scientific and technological advances over the last fifty years have allowed the world to make huge strides in tackling global hunger. The science of the Green Revolution increased GDP per capita in the lowest income countries by 20% by 2010. And modern crop varieties alone avert as many as 6 million infant deaths each year.
But as we confront the triple challenge of climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity, we need a new revolution – a truly green revolution, founded on innovation, that can deliver food security for all.
Fertilisers, for example, were highlighted as a priority in last year’s Breakthrough Agenda Report. From February to April last year, global fertiliser index prices rose by 30%, severely testing supply chains already buffeted by the pandemic. The highest global fertiliser prices since 2008, only piled on the pressure.
So that’s why I am pleased to announce today that the UK is joining the Global Fertiliser Challenge and will commit £3 million to a new research consortium, together with the USA and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. The Efficient Fertiliser Consortium will be dedicated to the development and testing of novel fertiliser products with the potential to transform productivity around the world, while safeguarding the natural resources on which we all depend.
So we invite others here, to join us in supporting this critical new research. We need everyone’s engagement, because innovation alone is not enough.
We need to get better at putting technologies to use, at scale. Too often, transformative ideas sit on the shelf, because market, policy, or investment barriers stand in the way of farmers’ access to them. And this is where the Agriculture Breakthrough comes in.
The Agriculture Breakthrough, which we launched during the UK’s COP26 Presidency, aims to “make climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture the most attractive and widely-adopted option for farmers everywhere by 2030”.
So at the heart of the agenda is international collaboration: the idea that, together, we can overcome those barriers that block widespread adoption of sustainable solutions:
From cutting-edge solar irrigation, which can transform the productivity of smallholder farmers in Africa, to climate resilient crops, such as the Vitamin A sweet potato which is nourishing millions, to promoting crop diversity by intercropping with beans and pulses which build soil health, to investing in cutting edge AI, predictive modelling and big data to extend credit to smallholder farmers, transform their productivity and enable them to grow more whilst avoiding land expansion and protecting those precious natural resources.
The opportunity is huge; agricultural innovation can unlock growth worth an additional $1.7 trillion to GDP in the Global South, and indeed could reduce global food prices by 16%.
At COP27, we welcomed thirteen new countries to the Breakthrough. But it is still young and we will hear from some of our newest members joining the group today, and I encourage others to join ahead of COP28 as we take on this enormous challenge together.
This meeting – standing as it does between COP27 and COP28 – is the ideal time for us to take stock and I am looking forward to the Breakthrough Agenda Report authors offering a preview of their findings for 2023. Their analysis will challenge us to do more together to accelerate the adoption of technologies.
Because as governments, we can create the conditions to make this happen. If we don’t, who will? Public support for agriculture is a key source of funding worth around £700 billion a year. There is compelling evidence that increasing the proportion spent on the development and deployment of climate-resilient, sustainable agriculture innovations, could yield substantial gains for the planet, for the economy and for everyone.
I urge you to grasp this opportunity over the coming months, as we all consider the Report’s recommendations and translate them into the Breakthrough action plans that we will set together at COP28.
Thank you.
The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, at the Education World Forum in London on 8 May 2023.
Good afternoon everyone.
I’d like to welcome you all to this annual gathering of education ministers.
You find us all in a celebratory mood and many world leaders from your countries joined us to celebrate.
The coronation of His Majesty King Charles showcased what this country is known for around the world.
Pageantry, tradition, our history, the importance of continuity. But it is not just a celebration of the past. We’re also focused on the future, even an ancient monarchy like ours is constantly evolving.
Who would have thought back in 1953 when we last held a coronation that the next monarch would be one of world’s original environmental champions?
Curiosity and flexibility are vital at any time but especially when the world is changing so fast.
That is why we need education – it allows us to change, it allows us to adapt, it ensures we can meet the future head on.
Many of us will be facing the same challenges. Others will have to tackle problems that are particular to them.
But one challenge we all face is this: How do we make sure our young people leave school or college with the skills to prepare them for a life of opportunity?
We have all found ourselves in situations when our skills didn’t go far enough. I once found myself on a plane travelling to Japan for a major negotiation with nothing but a book on etiquette.
What saved me was a huge appetite to learn from my hosts and my new-found karaoke skills.
Every child has an inbuilt sense of curiosity. None of them want to be left behind, they want to learn and do well.
It’s our job to give them the opportunity to do so. And if we do, we all benefit.
Give people the opportunity to learn and the end result almost always sparks innovation.
The more we collaborate and work together to solve our problems, the more we’re likely to see the power of innovation.
Take the pandemic for example. Look at what the power of global unity achieved when it came to vaccinating our populations. It showed that those who were quickest to innovate in a crisis were more likely to be the first out of it.
So, how do we make this work in education.
I learnt in business, you may not always be first but you can learn from the best and that is what we have done in the UK. We’ve learnt from all of you, and we want to continue doing so.
To inform our Skills for Jobs White Paper, we looked at world leading technical education systems, like in Germany and the Netherlands and those which have implemented more recent reforms, such as Ireland.
Our new vocational qualifications, T-levels, drew heavily on evidence from the Norwegian, Dutch and Swiss technical education systems.
Our reforms to the national curriculum in 2014 have given us world-class standards across all subjects and have drawn on best practice, such as how maths is taught in Singapore and Shanghai.
We benchmark ourselves against all of you – to drive improvement and instil innovation in our education system.
Working with thousands of businesses, we are learning all the time as we partner to design qualifications and provide work experience and training for young people.
But we don’t just want to take excellence from others, we want to share our own too.
The Teaching for Success Tunisia is a project with the British Council, the Ministry of Education and the British Embassy which will give teachers the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to teach English more effectively. So far it has resulted in more than 5,000 primary school teachers learning simultaneously online.
While Heriot-Watt Dubai was the first campus of an overseas university to open in Dubai International Academic City in 2005. There were 120 students to start with. Now there are nearly 4,000.
I hope that this conference can be the first of many conversations I have with you about how we can work together to innovate and improve our education systems further.
Innovation and collaboration are essential for economies at every level and in every corner of the Earth.
No country has a monopoly on bright ideas so the more we talk to one another, the greater the scope for coming up with solutions.
One of the most fruitful ways of doing this is by encouraging international students.
We are proud that the UK remains a destination of choice for so many students. With four out of the top 10 universities in the world, the UK’s higher education sector is truly world class. In fact, 55 current world leaders were educated right here in the UK, only one country is educating more world leaders and that is the US.
International mobility is increasing but so is global competitiveness for talent. We are in a global race, not just for talent but for technology. The industries of the future, whether AI, quantum computing, green technology or life sciences, rely not just on having talent in our own countries but on deep and lasting partnerships.
For example, I am proud that Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn was able to come from Australia and study here in the UK at Cambridge. Her research on enzymes and genetic material could pave the way for people to live longer, healthier lives.
Human rights advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan, travelled from Malaysia to graduate in Law from Exeter University in 1979. She eventually became president of that country’s Bar Council and has been awarded the US International Women of Courage Award.
So I am hugely proud that we are welcoming more than 600,000 international students every year.
International education is popular. It makes us all richer. We all benefit as we build partnerships and lasting bonds. That’s something we value hugely.
And of course, we are equally keen to see our students go and study abroad. Which is why I am delighted that the Turing Scheme, our global programme to study and work abroad, is now approaching its third year.
This year the scheme is unlocking opportunities for more than 38,000 UK students and learners who will gain international experience, developing skills and expertise.
I’m especially pleased that this scheme is extending the horizons for students who might never have had that chance. 51% of the international placements across 160 countries all over the world have been earmarked for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Turing Scheme is truly global in scope, with every country in the world eligible as a destination for UK students, including EU countries. This is great news for all students, including those studying languages, as many more countries, cultures and languages are within reach for UK participants.
Thanks to Turing, Lanchester Primary School in Durham was able to take 16 children to their partner school in India.
The children found themselves immersed in a totally new world and as their head teacher Jane Davis said: ‘they experienced more in a week than some of us experience in a lifetime’.
Whether it’s construction students from South West College in Northern Ireland, who went to Canada to improve their knowledge of green building techniques, or budding entrepreneurs from Nottingham Trent University getting to sample work and study, and probably some dance moves, in Latin America, the Turing Scheme is unlocking international opportunities for students, pupils and learners across the UK.
Actually Turing who also taught and studied internationally was, as many of you will know, widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.
Which brings me to a subject that divides opinion and that is the use of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in education settings.
I know in some countries there is a knee-jerk reaction to AI. It’s going to be the end of mankind as we know it, some cry.
To challenge this response to a future technology I want to call on a voice from the past. Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
We’ve had the difficulties. Now let us make the most of our opportunities.
Which is why here in the UK, AI is making a difference in schools and universities already but there is far greater scope for really transformative change.
AI could have the power to transform a teacher’s day-to-day work. For example, it could take much of the heavy lifting out of compiling lesson plans and marking. This would enable teachers to do the one thing that AI cannot and that’s teach, up close and personal, at the front of a classroom.
We need to respond to it just as we have to other technical innovations in the past like the calculator, or more recently Google. We’ll learn about it, then apply it to deliver better outcomes for students.
We’re excited to learn about what it can do. Whether it could radically reduce the amount of time teachers spend marking, how effective it could be for personalised and adaptive learning and how it might be used as an assistive technology to improve access to education.
My department has already begun this journey by publishing a statement that examines the opportunities, as well as the risks, that generative AI brings to education.
We have a lot more thinking and learning to do to understand the potential here and I am committed to working hand-in-hand with experts, educators and all of you in this room as we do that thinking.
I’d like to thank you Dominic and your team for all your hard work in organising EWF and enabling ministers from so many countries around the world to meet today.
Innovation, resilience, a desire to learn. This is how we will be stronger after the pandemic. We must embrace change and learn from each other.
Alexander Graham Bell, a man whose innovation, resilience and desire to learn, have totally transformed life for all of us, once said: “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened.”
Sometimes a door opening can lead to the most extraordinary places which is how I find myself here before you today.
Let us overcome our fear and open these doors and be ready to embrace the opportunities that are waiting there.
Thank you.
The statement made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 7 May 2023.
I am appalled at news the Iranian regime executed Swedish-Iranian dual national Habib Chaab.
The UK strongly opposes the death penalty. We call on the regime to stop all executions, now.
We will continue to work with Sweden and other partners to hold this regime to account.
The comments made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, in London on 5 May 2023.
Welcome, your Royal Highnesses, your excellencies, my lords, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a privilege to meet you all this morning at the start of a historic weekend for our country as well as for observers across the world. Tomorrow marks a new era for the United Kingdom.
This chapter of world history will be defined by our efforts to survive and thrive in spite of the immense and unique threats we currently face.
As such, His Majesty the King has asked that sustainability be a central theme of the Coronation. Concern for the state of our planet characterised his work as Prince of Wales and no doubt will distinguish his reign as King.
His Majesty’s government shares his passionate engagement with this pressing issue and has so far set the international standard for climate action.
We have committed £11.6 billion for climate finance, have pledged to reach net zero by 2050 and are tirelessly working to realise the epic potential of the Glasgow Climate Pact. The time for complacency is long gone. The need for action has never been more urgent.
This is true first and foremost for Small Island Developing States. Our friends and partners in SIDS are on the frontline of climate change, suffering from natural disasters, facing catastrophic sea level rises and daunting adaptation challenges.
This is compounded by extraordinary economic challenges. Island economies experienced some of the harshest economic downturns globally as a result of COVID-19.
These unique structural vulnerabilities mean that you deserve all the support and provisions required to protect your people and safeguard your economies.
I recently saw for myself in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea the challenges governments and communities face when it comes to climate change. It touched me deeply. Exposure to extreme elements is a burden whose brunt should be borne by as many powers as possible.
That is why we’ve proposed the expansion of disaster risk finance. We must ensure that the right resources are readily available so that you can respond rapidly to shocks like hurricanes and the loss of critical infrastructures like water and health when they are needed most.
SIDS leadership is unmatched in calling for ambitious climate action. You also have a special role as large ocean states in protecting rich biodiversity and nature.
We want to support your vital leadership. In that spirit we have set out an ambitious vision for SIDS in our development strategy. It is a vision that focuses on climate and economic resilience.
But the UK cannot do this alone – others in the international system must strive to meet this challenge. Our most revered poet, William Shakespeare, once wrote ‘a touch of nature makes the whole world kin’. The dangers of our rapidly transforming environment ought to do the same; ought to alert us all to the perilous prospect of an inhospitable habitat.
The 2024 SIDS Summit is perhaps our last best chance to agree collectively on how to make this happen.
In my view, an international system that is fit for purpose for SIDS is one that is:
We are not there yet. The international community has squandered too much time bickering over the direction our lifeboat should take, rather than attending to its maintenance and plugging potentially lethal leaks.
Reforming international finance is a good starting point for action. Indeed, the international financial system desperately needs reform. The Bridgetown Initiative has been a clarion call for change across the IMF, World Bank and regional development banks.
The UK is prioritising international finance reform to better address developing countries’ needs. And we believe that the 2024 UN SIDS Summit is our opportunity to get priorities right for you.
I will visit Jamaica later this month for the biennial UK-Caribbean Forum and the UK-Jamaica Strategic Dialogue. And beyond the SIDS Summit many of us will gather in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. I look forward to further discussions at those events including our shared values, our commitment to democracy and our people-to-people links.
We are a proud and vocal partner of SIDS in international forums and will continue to be so. As Prime Minister Mottley said “How many more surges must there be before the world takes action? None are safe until all are safe.”
We must work together. Not just to survive, but to thrive, and to thrive indefinitely. Thank you and welcome to London.
The comments made by Lee Anderson, the Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party, on Twitter on 7 May 2023.
Not My King? If you do not wish to live in a country that has a monarchy the solution is not to turn up with your silly boards. The solution is to emigrate.
The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 6 May 2023.
Today’s Coronation is a moment of extraordinary national pride. No other country could put on such a dazzling display. But it is not just a spectacle. It’s a proud expression of our history, culture, and traditions. It is a vivid demonstration of the modern character of our country. And a cherished ritual through which a new era is born. God Save The King.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on Twitter on 5 May 2023.
We’ve changed our party.
We’ve won the trust and confidence of voters.
And now we can go on to change our country: to cut the cost of living, cut waiting times and cut crime.
Let’s build a better Britain.
The comments made by Andrew Bridgen, the Independent MP for North West Leicestershire, on Twitter on 5 May 2023.
A dire night for the Conservative Party in the local elections. Ignore the will of people at your peril.
When the people are scared of the politicians that’s tyranny, when the politicians are scared of the people that’s democracy.
A lot of politicians will rightly be getting scared now.