Tag: Downing Street

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 October 2008.

The Prime Minister has appointed Jack Straw as the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, succeeding new Defence Secretary John Hutton.

The role complements Jack Straw’s position as Secretary of State for Justice. The appointment follows his work as Home Secretary, where he announced a range of anti-corruption measures covering MPs conduct in the House of Commons, and as Foreign Secretary, where in February 2006 he announced UK ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the first global anti-corruption instrument focusing on prevention, criminal law enforcement, international legal co-operation, asset recovery and monitoring.

Jack Straw said:

“I’m honoured to have been asked by the Prime Minister to take on this important role. Promoting integrity, accountability and honesty in public and professional life, as I have always worked to do, will be at heart of my new brief.

“The international business community increasingly realises that a culture of corruption is a disincentive to global investment and trade. The UK is committed to fighting corruption in all its forms.”

The appointment comes as the OECD’s anti-bribery working group meets in Paris this week. At the meeting, the OECD will publish a report on the UK’s progress against recommendations arising from the Phase 2 Review of the UK in March 2004.

Mr Straw described the Government’s ongoing anti-corruption programme to Parliament in a written ministerial statement this morning.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 15 October 2008.

The Prime Minister has said that his aim throughout the current financial crisis is to “do what I can on the side of hardworking families”.

Speaking to Sky’s Adam Boulton ahead of the EU Council in Brussels, Mr Brown said he hoped to see soon the impact of coordinated intervention in the form of loans for homeowners and small businesses. The PM added that he also hoped to see falling oil prices lead to lower inflation and lower household bills for British families.

The PM also held a press conference with UK media where he stressed the importance of tackling the financial crisis in order to help households paying higher fuel bills, small businesses lacking capital and families unable to get mortgages.

The PM said:

“Let’s never forget we are talking about households that are paying higher fuel bills as a result of global oil prices,  we’re talking about small businesses that are lacking capital because of a global financial crisis, we’re talking about couples and families that cannot get mortgages because of a global crisis, we’re talking about families and communities hit by unemployment because of this global financial crisis.”

Earlier the PM and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso held a press conference where they agreed on the need to take action on the crisis to a second stage of establishing better regulation and an early warning system to root out problem areas in the future.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 16 October 2008.

The EU has agreed to push ahead with urgent reform of the financial system based on the principles of transparency, sound banking, responsibility, integrity and global governance, the PM has said.

Speaking to journalists at the close of the EU Council in Brussels, Mr Brown said that reform was necessary not only to stop a crisis from recurring but also to end the current one. An early warning system should be established through reform of the IMF and the Financial Stability Forum and executives’ pay should no longer contain reward for “excesses and irresponsibility”.

The PM also said that he hoped to see the falling price of oil reflected at the pump, adding that there is still “too much variation in price across our country”. EU leaders had identified dependency on oil as another key issue to be addressed during the Council meeting, he said.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 17 October 2008.

Gordon Brown has sent a message of support to organisers and participants of the Stand Up Take Action campaign that will see tens of millions of people take part in Stand Up Against Poverty events across 100 countries this weekend.

In the message, the PM reiterated the campaign’s call for action to be taken now on achieving the Millennium Development Goals and said there was a “vast amount of effort needed” to get the goals back on track.

The “inspirational” UN summit on the MDGs held in September had shown that it is possible to “create an alliance for action that can and will deliver” on the development targets, he said.

TEXT OF MESSAGE

Thank you all for Standing Up and Taking Action this weekend in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

This weekend marks the focus of this year’s Stand Up Take Action campaign, bringing together citizens from across the world to urge their leaders to take action in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of clear, measurable goals by which the world’s leaders pledged to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

In 2007, 43.7 million people participated in Stand Up worldwide, to express their commitment to ending world poverty. This year, this powerful civil society campaign is asking people to go one step further and take action themselves in their own communities to support the world’s poorest people and raise awareness of some of the key challenges they face – from water and sanitation, to food supply and agriculture, to education and malaria.

Stand Up Take Action is absolutely right that we must act now. We know that the global collective effort on the MDGs is yielding results, even in some of the world’s most challenging regions. But we also know that there is still a vast amount of effort needed if we are to get back on track to meeting the MDGs, particularly in the face of new challenges such as the global economic slowdown, food security and climate change. It is imperative that we do more and that we do it better.

The UK is leading by example. At the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, the G8 committed to work with other donors to increase aid by $50 billion, to $130 billion by 2010. And by 2013, the UK government will reach our target of spending 0.7% of national income on aid. We have clearly laid out our plans to reach this goal and we are encouraging our partners to do likewise.

I was in New York on 25 September for the UN’s High Level Event on global poverty. This was a truly inspirational day that brought together the broadest alliance ever assembled to fight global poverty and resulted in $16 billion pledged to achieving the MDGs. And what the event demonstrated so powerfully is that a coordinated effort is so much more than the sum of its parts and together we can take a coalition of the concerned – governments, faith groups, cities, NGOs, foundations, trusts and businesses – and create an alliance for action that can and will deliver the MDGs.

Thank you for your commitment and for your action. I look forward to continuing to work with GCAP and the Millennium Campaign and our civil society partners to realise the promises we have made to the world’s poor.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 17 October 2008.

The UK must reduce its dependency on oil as an energy source and move to nuclear and renewables, the PM has said.

Speaking to business leaders on a visit to Nottingham, Gordon Brown said the Government’s strategy was to move to a low carbon economy and escape the “dictatorship of oil” by building more nuclear power stations and investing in renewables and the development of technology such as hybrid cars.

Mr Brown also said that it was “absolutely scandalous” for the Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group to consider cutting oil production in a bid to raise prices.

The PM said:

“If you’re dependent for your basic energy needs on a commodity…whose price is being manipulated by a cartel and can be $10 10 years ago, $150 last year and $80 this year, and yet it affects everything that every company does in this country and other countries, you’re in a very difficult position. So our strategy is to reduce our dependence on oil so that we can move to this low carbon economy.”

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 20 October 2008.

The Prime Minister has leant his support to Energy Saving Week, the annual campaign that started on Monday.

In a Downing Street statement, the PM encouraged everyone to seek advice from campaign organiser the Energy Saving Trust and said that simple measures in the home, combined with Government initiatives such as free insulation, could help people save mony this winter.

The PM said:

“We want everyone to have a warm, well insulated home, wherever they live. That’s why I am encouraging everyone to take advantage of the help and advice from the Energy Saving Trust this energy saving week.

“Every measure makes a difference, from switching to energy saving light bulbs to installing proper wall and loft insulation, and we’ve guaranteed discounts of up to 50 per cent when you have this work done in your home. For many people, including everyone over 70, insulation is now free.

“These measures, part of the extra £1 billion we’ve made available this year for ‘green’ home improvements, will help people save money by saving energy.”

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 20 October 2008.

The European Union has a “shared understanding” of the ongoing crisis in financial markets and is committed to reforming the global financial system, the PM has said.

Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said that EU leaders convening in Brussels at last week’s EU Council had agreed to provide medium term lending guarantees in member states similar to those extended by the Government in the UK.

The PM said:

“At the heart of our considerations was our shared understanding that the massive reduction in global financial activity and the fracturing of the global financial system has been the result of irresponsible and often undisclosed lending that started in American sub prime markets.

“And while national action is necessary, the root problem can only be dealt with only changes in our financial systems – to recapitalise banks and to reform provision around the principle of rewarding hard work enterprise and responsible risk taking but not irresponsibility and excess.”

Mr Brown said that the EU also reached “important conclusions” on energy and climate change, affirming its commitment to reach agreement by December on its 2020 climate change package. World leaders will gather in Copenhagen next year to take forward efforts to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change that expires in 2012.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 21 October 2008.

Gordon Brown welcomed Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to Downing Street today for bilateral talks.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues including the global financial crisis, ongoing negotiations for a Cyprus settlement and the Balkans. The PM welcomed Dr Karamanlis’ intervention in the Greek banking system as part of a European-wide effort to “restore confidence” in the EU financial system.

Mr Brown said the UK and Greece also supported EU membership for countries such as Turkey where membership criteria are met.

The PM said:

“Greece is one of Britain’s important European partners.  Not only do we have a long history of friendship through difficult times, but we also work together on many of today’s international issues.

“I applaud Dr Karamanlis’ intervention in the Greek banking system as contributing to the European-wide effort to restore confidence in the EU financial system. We have also discussed the need for long-term reform in addition to short-term measures to re-stabilise the Global Economy.

“Dr Karamanlis and I both strongly support the efforts to achieve a just and lasting Cyprus settlement.  And we both agree with the importance of encouraging countries in South Eastern Europe, including Turkey, to join the European Union when they can meet the membership criteria.”

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 21 October 2008.

The Government has announced a package of help, including £350 million for training initiatives, for small and medium-sized businesses struggling with the effects of the credit crunch.

The funding will come from the Train to Gain programme, which is scheduled to grow to £1 billion by 2011. Other measures announced today include free “health checks” for businesses in England, financial information from the Institute of Credit Management and a public sector drive to pay firms within 10 days.

The announcements comes as the Prime Minister visited the Kent Science Park in Sittingbourne, accompanied by Business Secretary Peter Mandelson and Skills Secretary John Denham, for a Q&A with local business leaders.

Addressing guests at the event, the PM said that the Government had been “dealing with the drying up of money for businesses” through intervention in the banking system and that it expected lending to start again.

Recently appointed Business Secretary Peter Mandelson added that the Government understood how small businesses were facing “tough times” and that the support announced today would help ensure they are “healthy enough to survive and come out strongly at the other side”.

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 22 October 2018.

Gordon Brown welcomed Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, to 10 Downing Street today.

The two leaders discussed a range of issues including the world economy, climate change and the situation in Sudan and Darfur.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani became Prime Minister of Qatar in April 2007.