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Tag: Speeches

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Opening Remarks at the Opening Session of the Council of Europe

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Opening Remarks at the Opening Session of the Council of Europe

    The opening remarks made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Iceland on 16 May 2023.

    Addressing a huge crowd on the streets of Strasbourg in 1949 Winston Churchill, one of the founding fathers of this Council spoke about “le génie de l’Europe.” [the genius of Europe]

    He was talking about what makes our continent so successful, the values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

    The same spirit we’ve seen again and again that led Vaclav Havel to broadcast his messages of freedom during the suppression of the Prague Spring, that brought down the Berlin Wall and that leads Ukraine to defend its sovereignty with such valour, inspiring us to stand with them all.

    The Council of Europe has nurtured that spirit for three quarters of a century.

    And it must do so again now.

    Because today, we are facing the greatest threat to democracy and the rule of law on our continent since before the Treaty of London was signed.

    With Russia waging a war of aggression on European soil, and China growing in assertiveness the world is becoming more contested and more volatile.

    The challenge to our values is growing.

    And the moment to push back is now.

    Democracies like ours must build resilience so that we can out-cooperate and out-compete those who drive instability.

    That’s why we’re working so closely with our friends across Europe through the G7, NATO, the Joint Expeditionary Force, the European Political Community and with a welcome new tone in our relations with the European Union.

    Friends, the UK may have left the EU, but we have not left Europe.

    We remain a proud European nation.

    And we must work together to defend the values we all hold so dear.

    The Council of Europe, with its huge reach, has such a vital role to play.

    And we need to think about how this Council should react to the realities of today.

    We showed great purpose in expelling Russia last year – acting decisively together within days of the invasion.

    Let’s bring that dynamism to the issues before us now. And let’s send a message from this hall, loud and clear that we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.

    We will hold Russia accountable for the horrendous war crimes that have been committed.

    And we must also learn the lesson of this war – by being prepared to confront threats to our societies before they become too big to deal with.

    That includes acting on cyber security and AI and it means tackling illegal migration.

    The moral case for action is clear.

    We can’t just sit back and watch as criminal gangs profiteer on people’s misery.

    Illegal migration exploits the most vulnerable. It risks crowding out those with a genuine case for asylum. And it strains the trust that our citizens have – not just in our domestic borders, but in the international system.

    That’s why so many of us are already acting at the national level. And why we need to do more to cooperate across borders and across jurisdictions and to end illegal migration and stop the boats.

    The Council already plays a vital role but I urge leaders to consider how we can go further.

    Because we know what we can achieve together. Just look at this Council’s extraordinary legacy: protecting human rights, abolishing the death penalty in Europe, supporting media freedom and championing democracy across Central and Eastern Europe after the Cold War.

    So let’s take heart from that, and keep rising to the many challenges before us, true to our enduring values and certain that, as Churchill went on tell the Strasbourg crowd, the dangers before us are great… but great too is our strength.

    Thank you.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech to the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech to the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference

    The speech made by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Minister for the Indo-Pacific, at Lancaster House in London on 16 May 2023.

    Sir Ben, thank you and thank you, Viktorija. Thank you to the Council on Geostrategy for bringing us together today through this lens of the First Sea Lord’s annual conference to discuss those challenges of maritime security in its many guises in this growing and challenging global environment.

    Good morning to all of you here, and I know also a wider but equally august crowd online. It’s always great to see Lancaster House being put to good use in bringing great minds together from military, academic to industrial leadership…. As well as you may have noticed, the pomp and ceremony it was part of for the coronation just a few days ago.

    It is always a pleasure to welcome – and I know I am allowed to say this, I asked permission first, my mother is French, so I’d like to particularly welcome our French colleagues and Admiral Vandier to the place where the Lancaster House Treaties have been negotiated over decades.

    As an island nation and a global trading power, the UK is constantly focused on the seas and oceans, and as James mentioned, we’ve been doing it a long time – since Queen Elizabeth the First we have made use of the global waterways for our prosperity, and have been leaders in ensuring we can defend them for our security, but also for the peace and freedom of many others.

    Day to day, as over a third of the UK’s food is imported, the protection of maritime trade routes has a direct effect on all our daily lives – and perhaps we don’t do enough to ensure that our citizens really understand the importance of the Royal Navy’s daily workload.

    Globally, 3 billion people rely on the sea for their food security: more than ever, this now brings new levels of challenge around responsible stewardship of the marine habitats that sustain us all, with the need for protein which nations with growing young populations need.

    So as we provide leadership in the protection of sustainable ocean habitats, we are also charged with supporting those smaller nations for whom defending and protecting their EEZs, – their exclusive economic zones, which sovereign states under UNCLOS have sovereign rights over to explore and use their own marine resources.

    This is proving less than straightforward when faced with those large distant fishing fleets who don’t share or respect their responsibilities.

    In my recent visit to the Philippines, I was struck by the existential threat felt from the gangs of Chinese militia boats gathered overfishing overfishing shoal waters, leaving local fishermen under daily threat.

    The maritime domain is under increasing pressure from systemic competition, driven by those resource needs, and is facing levels of threat and coercion not seen since World War 2. I believe that its therefore right to say we are genuinely entering a ‘new maritime century’.

    The reality is that maritime protection needs have never gone away, but rather that we have should always have remained focused on the maritime.

    With constrained defence budgets, and post the fall of the Berlin Wall, which perhaps brought a naïve assumption of peaceful times ahead, followed by land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the maritime has been quietly getting on with its job without as much attention as it needed.

    Our Royal Navy continues to make us proud as the great guardian of our nation’s security near and far, and is respected and welcomed around the globe by our friends and allies. The expertise and trust which others share in our sailors continues to be a powerful deterrent to those who would flout the laws of the sea.

    The Royal Navy guards our national security and wider maritime stability – the leading European nation in NATO, bringing our Continuous At Sea Deterrent submarine enterprise to the defence of all, and forging the alliances and partnerships around the world that make us all safer and protect our ways of life.

    The threats we face today and in the years ahead may seem diverse and indeed far away, but they are all interconnected. It is vital if we are to continue to maintain freedom of navigation both for

    • civilian shipping
    • safe use of the sea for sourcing clean energy
    • and the sustainable management of the sea and seabed’s natural resources

    that we build and deliver multi-pronged strategies.

    Threats to global supply chains, the militarisation of the seas, and the erosion of global norms like freedom of navigation are more real than perhaps many of our UK citizens can imagine in our calm European waters.

    The degradation of fish stocks, and the precariousness of maritime livelihoods has the potential to wreak havoc with many nations’ basic ability to feed their people. The fair management and sustainable harvesting of the sea’s resources is critical to maintaining peaceful, thriving communities.

    The region which poses the greatest opportunity but also risks to UK interests is the Indo-Pacific.

    For too many here in Europe, this seems far away and can be ignored in favour of those urgent tactical crises much closer to home, in Ukraine. But that misses the point of the indivisibility of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific to global challenges.

    So to ensure it is those opportunities which prevail, rather than the risks of disturbed or broken sea lanes and the safety of maritime sovereignty, our naval colleagues all need to work together to ensure the Indo-Pacific remains stable and free together.

    This is why the Indo-Pacific is at the heart of our long-term foreign policy strategy, as we restated in our Integrated Review Refresh published in March – it is crucial to sustaining free trade, freedom of action, and freedom from coercion.

    Sixty percent of global shipping passes through the region, for which stability there has a direct impact on households and businesses right here. When I am trying to explain to constituents what this all means, why I am on a plane half of my life going to visit countries very, very far away, I try and set it out by saying that it is about the goods we purchase every day, from your washing machine to the prawns in the supermarket. They come by ship through the South China Seas and those wider sea routes. If those routes become blocked, or unsafe for civilian shipping, the economic shocks would be dramatic.

    Beyond the present dependencies, more than half of global growth is projected to come from the Indo -Pacific by 2050, so we need to ensure the UK is right at the heart of the region’s successful future – so we must be alive to the threats, working with allies to counter them, so that in concert our businesses and people can maximise the UK’s interests and opportunities.

    The Indo-Pacific, beyond its growing potential to be an economic powerhouse, is also full of potential for clean energy resources, and the UK wants to be able to continue to bring our world leading expertise in clean energy, from wind to nuclear, to support and help to build sustainable business growth and livelihoods.

    So in our agreements and partnerships with nations from Vanuatu to the Republic of Korea, from Bangladesh to Indonesia, the UK is focused on bringing our expertise to support positive impacts in coastal communities, alongside building expertise in marine science, and sharing educational resources.

    But all of this depends on ensuring that the maritime environment for all these Indo-Pacific countries is safe and free from coercive shipping which would restrict their potential in their own waters.

    The UK government’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund is an important part of our leadership on marine issues, supporting developing countries to protect the environment and reduce poverty. It is one of the tools in our armoury to deliver the challenges set out in the Integrated Review Refresh, to tackle biodiversity loss, to halt and reverse plastic pollution, and to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

    This is work which we will deliver most effectively working with our key naval partners, especially through our Anglo-French alliance set on an even stronger course after our recent Anglo-French summit. These are tough targets because the oceans always have the power to surprise.

    As with so many coastal regions, the North Sea – alongside my constituency’s 64 mile border in the North of England – can be both friend and foe. It’s giving us vast new resources of sustainable offshore wind power, but ferocious storms and the coldest climate in the country. Storm Arwen ripped through my patch in November 2021 and we are even now only starting to see normality resume with the opening of the National Park this spring after forestry was devastated.

    The ferocity of Storm Arwen took everyone by surprise. But it was nothing compared to that which hit Ukraine last year, as Russia illegally invaded a sovereign neighbour.   And whilst NATO and many other nations from around the world are doing all we can to support the Ukrainian war effort and their humanitarian needs, we should not overlook the maritime challenges the Ukraine crisis has created.

    Economically, a secure, stable Black Sea is essential not only to rebuild Ukraine’s future, but because it is the sea lane which provides a vast proportion of the grain and fertiliser needs of East Africa and beyond.

    The world needs those exports from the ‘breadbasket of Europe’ to resume and stabilise, alongside Ukraine’s need to deliver to the world for its own economic success.  Trade and security go hand in hand, and it’s our navies who defend and ensure these flows of goods can continue safely.

    We should also be much more comfortable in confronting the fact that the strategic link between maritime security in the Euro-Atlantic and in the Indo-Pacific are indivisible.

    Where Russian actions flout the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, this provides China with an excuse also to disregard international norms, to ignore the rules-based international system for their benefit, destroying the option of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all.

    So as we approach the NATO summit in Vilnius – I know we’re joined by Admiral Gilday and Rear Admiral Skoog Haslum this morning – the increasingly strong demonstration of defence in the Baltic, to deal with the urgent tactical situation we face, needs to demonstrate the capability and intent of those of us determined to defend free, safe and open global waters.

    The NATO partnership, through our transatlantic bonds, are keeping more than a billion citizens secure. But the rest of the world’s oceans and seas do not feel free and open to too many of the Indo-Pacific countries I visit week in week out as the UK’s Indo-Pacific minister.

    So the UK, as a committed global maritime partner, is finding new ways to bring our expertise and support to the region.  Perhaps the most challenging, exciting and long-term is AUKUS, a trilateral agreement to create an arc of defence and deterrence for the Indo-Pacific.

    AUKUS demonstrates how longstanding partners can come together to tackle the new threats. Together with the US and Australia, we are going to build a new global and interoperable nuclear-powered submarine capability, that will not only support a free and open Indo-Pacific, but will also strengthen UK contribution to NATO in Europe.

    AUKUS will create that next generation of expert engineers, welders, logisticians, programme managers, data analysts, regulators, and machinists to mention but a few, who will be building these new boats, alongside the need for growth in the number of submariners serving in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy, with an extensive skill set needed to safely operate nuclear-powered submarines – and we will maximise our impact by creating a shared workforce.

    This will bring new well-paid jobs for whole life careers for a growing workforce in Barrow, Plymouth, Rosyth and Faslane in the UK, alongside whole new workforces in Adelaide and Perth in Australia.  This is not without its challenges, and the UK has a leading role to play in ensuring that our commitment to this huge military programme of work is a national endeavour here in the UK.

    AUKUS submarines are part of Australia’s defence programme, but the Royal Navy and the UK’s submarine industrial enterprise will be critical to their success.  Not since JFK’s determination to put a man on the moon, and NASA’s all encompassing national focus  – where even the cleaners believed they were integral to the success of the project –  has there been such a challenge to our industries and education systems.

    Our universities and schools need to have AUKUS at the heart of their STEM programmes, so that every young person in school today has the chance to choose a lifetime career which is part of AUKUS:

    • a global project designed to build submarines – yes
    • a multifaceted activity to design new technologies of weaponry and undersea deterrence – yes

    but perhaps most importantly, to be part of the commitment by the UK to grow the capabilities of our allies to defend their backyard, to keep the Indo-Pacific free and open, so that those nations who cannot defend themselves know that the AUKUS family is alongside them.

    I hope that, by laying the groundwork with our partners now, by investing in the solutions of the future, the threats from Indo-Pacific nations who demonstrate coercive behaviours in those waters, will understand that the UK stands firmly alongside our Indo-Pacific neighbours to weather any storms.

    We must not turn away.

    What we must do – given the scale of the challenge – is to come together, in partnership with friends old and new, to deter and defend against threats to maritime stability, and to ensure our strategic advantage in the maritime domain.

    Interoperability with our allies will be a core source of strength. Interchangeability will make us stronger still.

    Navies need to combine their power with diplomatic support, while our diplomatic efforts need to amplify our willingness and capacity to protect our collective interests, whether in home waters or across the world.

    The Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness Programme is our gold standard for using our security expertise to build trust, partnership and capabilities, including with Middle Ground countries under pressure from revisionist states.

    Strong deterrence and joint working are its watchwords.

    And so my call to action today is to take the long view. It’s for an end to the ‘seablindness’ that can creep into an ever more complex foreign policy, and for a look into foreign policy priorities in every aspect of the processes of naval planning.

    Ultimately, it’s our combined commitment to bring together our collective wisdom, listening to those few with deep expertise in delivery of maritime security through decades of confrontations under our oceans.

    These challenges are not new, but ensuring success requires that we all lean in to deliver on our commitment. And the rationale for AUKUS is because the Indo-Pacific is a really huge expanse of water. We need more submarine capability providing deterrence in the only stealth environment remaining, across these vast areas.

    We will only deliver the pace needed if we make this a national endeavour.  If we don’t get our deterrence posture right, coercion could become aggression all too quickly.

    But if we do, we can assure the security and prosperity not only for my constituents, but for all those who are banking on us.

    Thank you.

  • Metropolitan Police – 2023 Statement on Bacari-Bronze O’Garro

    Metropolitan Police – 2023 Statement on Bacari-Bronze O’Garro

    The statement made by the Metropolitan Police on 24 May 2023.

    Understandably there has been extensive comment on this case in the media and on social media.

    Now that an individual has been charged, I would ask that the judicial process be respected and allowed to take its proper course.

  • Gordon Brown – 2023 Article on Arresting Vladimir Putin

    Gordon Brown – 2023 Article on Arresting Vladimir Putin

    Sections of the article written by Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, which was published in the Guardian on 23 May 2023.

    This week the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, used the meeting of the Council of Europe to intensify her call for a “dedicated tribunal to bring Russia’s crime of aggression to trial”, citing two options: a tribunal based on a multilateral treaty under which a group of countries like the council of Europe agree to act in unison; or a special hybrid court founded on both Ukraine’s own domestic crime of aggression and international law.

    Such a tribunal, which would be vetoed by Russia at the United Nations security council, could be mandated by a majority vote of the 193 members of the UN general assembly which could charge Putin with planning to invade Ukraine starting in 2014 when his troops descended on Crimea.

    Whatever happens, August will represent a fork in the road. Either Putin attends the Brics summit, risking arrest, or by staying away he exposes his fear of being arrested. Whichever outcome, a line will be crossed.

  • James Cartlidge – 2023 Speech at the Sea Power Conference

    James Cartlidge – 2023 Speech at the Sea Power Conference

    The speech made by James Cartlidge, the Minister for Defence Procurement, at the Sea Power Conference held at Lancaster House in London on 16 May 2023.

    It’s a great pleasure to be here and even to those like me with no naval background, Sir Henry Leach needs no introduction.

    It is a great honour to have been asked to deliver this lecture in his name, especially with his daughter Henrietta here in the audience.

    With many distinguished guests, colleagues and of course senior chiefs and indeed from our many allies around the world – it’s a great pleasure to meet and see all of you.

    During the Falklands conflict, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s so-called “knight in shining gold braid”, Sir Henry played a pivotal role in ensuring the Iron Lady stuck to her guns and secured freedom for the islanders.

    Yet as we prepare to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic next weekend, we shouldn’t forget that Sir Henry’s early years were spent as a midshipman and later First Lieutenant in the stormy seas of the Second World War.

    Indeed, he had been assigned to serve on HMS Prince of Wales until his father Captain John Leach was given command of the ship.

    Tragically, Captain John went down with his ship just two days after the pair had enjoyed a gin sling and swim together.

    Despite such tragedy, Sir Henry distinguished himself in the war and as a junior lieutenant, was in charge of one of the 14-inch gun turrets in the battleship Duke of York which helped sink the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst off the North Cape in December 1943.

    There can be little doubt that such formative experiences helped shape the character and resilience of the man who went onto become First Sea Lord.

    A man who, when asked for his view on whether or not to send a taskforce to the Falklands, replied firmly: “It is not my business to say whether we should or not, but if we do not, if we pussyfoot in our actions and do not achieve complete success, in another few months we shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little.”

    On the surface 2023 appears to have very little in common with 1943.

    Yet, as Royal Navy and Allied warships sail to the Mersey ahead of three days of Battle of the Atlantic commemorations, it is striking how many of those challenges from Leach’s early wartime experiences remain relevant for us.

    We might not be at war but we find ourselves once more having to confront the resurgence of state-based dangers.

    President Putin is blockading trade in the Black Sea, threatening the undersea cables which support everyday life and increasing activity in the South Atlantic.

    And just as in the Second World War, the threats are truly global.

    We see, for example, in the South Pacific, that China is continuing to expand its Navy while using its military and economic might to intimidate its neighbours.

    Again, much like the Battle of the Atlantic, we know these maritime challenges – coupled with the diverse dangers of terrorism and global criminal networks – will unfortunately endure.

    Because the world is more dependent than ever on the oceans.

    Global financial markets dependent upon tens of thousands of miles of underwater cabling.

    90% of UK trade is carried by sea.

    And climate change is expected to raise the stakes – resulting in new sea lanes and accessible natural resources in the High North as temperatures rise and ice caps melt.

    So, Sir Henry would not be surprised to find his beloved Royal Navy more in demand than ever.

    Over the last year, our ships have been all over the world.

    Supporting NATO in Eastern Europe, leading exercises and training Ukrainian sailors in mine clearance.

    Operating in the High North alongside partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

    And conducting numerous weapons and drugs busts in the Gulf region.

    All the while, demonstrating the very best of naval soft power around the globe with HMS Tamar and Spey visiting some 15 countries, delivering medical support to Pitcairn and emergency support to Tonga after the devastating volcano.

    And who could forget the poignant role they have played at home? With 140 naval ratings pulling the Queen’s coffin through Westminster on the day of her funeral.

    As well as those who marched through the streets of London in the King’s coronation processions earlier this month.

    So to those of you here today – and indeed all those who couldn’t make it – thank you for doing your duty for our country.

    However, the Sea Power Conference is not an arena for self-congratulation.

    As you all know our challenge now is to move our thinking on from the past and present to the future.

    None of us has a crystal ball. But here’s what we do know.

    We know the threats are growing.

    We know that rising demand is colliding with tighter budgets.

    And we know, in Sir Henry’s words, that, “effective deterrence involves maintaining a high state of readiness, being well equipped and trained, and deploying wherever and whenever the situation demands.”

    How, then, can we reconcile these competing objectives?

    To my mind we must borrow three lessons from the Battle of the Atlantic.

    Lesson one is about strengthening that key stakeholder our industrial base.

    In the Second World War, our force depended on the enormous power of our sovereign industries.

    With great yards on the Clyde, Mersey and Tyne churning out mighty warships at a rate of knots.

    Now, we’re determined to reinvigorate the famous British maritime sector.

    Not just so we can produce the hard power required to succeed in this more dangerous era.

    But so the sector itself becomes a kind of soft power deterrent – showing our adversaries that our small island has the capability to keep making battle-winning ships for as long as it takes.

    And we’re going to achieve that by providing industry with a clear demand signal – with a fresh pipeline of cutting-edge vessels coming in over the next 30 years including Dreadnoughts, Astutes, SSN-AUKUS, Fleet Solid Support ships and next-generation frigates.

    By working much more closely with suppliers, giving them the confidence to invest and upskill in the right areas.

    And by helping them win commercial and export orders in major new global markets.

    The totality overall demand or demand signal is something I’ve thought about and will do much more in future as Procurement Minister.

    We’re also supporting the next generation of shipwrights by investing in training programmes and skills academies.

    With the likes of Babcock, BAE and others as they put apprentices and graduates through their paces around the country.

    Ensuring we have a powerful on-shore advanced manufacturing skills base for decades to come, so that the Royal Navy always has the firepower it needs to carry out its plans.

    Lesson two is about encouraging innovation across the sector.

    The advent of radar and sonar helped swing the Battle of the Atlantic our way in days gone by.

    But today, technologies are advancing at a frightening pace.

    AI, for example, is already revolutionising the way data and satellite imagery is informing decision-making in battle, while also enabling forces to carry out dangerous missions with uncrewed aircraft, vehicles and ships.

    If we don’t stay ahead of the curve there is a risk that vessels designed in 2023 could be obsolete in ten years’ time frankly a lot less.

    Part of that is about integrating new technologies onto existing platforms.

    And this is where NavyX comes in, the team with the mission to get new technologies from the drawing board to the frontline as quickly as possible.

    And to help them do that, they’ve got the new and unique Experimental Vessel Patrick Blackett.

    Named after the former sailor and Nobel Prize winning scientist, Patrick Blackett provides the safe environment we need to test all the game-changing ideas coming over the horizon.

    Now we just need to make the most of it.

    By working with the regulator to unlock the maximum potential of Patrick Blackett and future technology.

    While adapting our existing platforms in the here and now, to ensure we stay one step ahead of our adversaries.

    Which brings me onto my third and final lesson. The importance of partnerships.

    Sir Henry wouldn’t have got far in the Battle of the Atlantic without the support of allies like France and later the US and Canada.

    As we are seeing today in Ukraine, great partnerships are still a great capability in their own right.

    And this year we’re also celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Polaris Sales Agreement.

    A major part of one of the most enduring bilateral relationships in history, it saw the US supplying us with our very first nuclear missiles, heralding the start of the ultimate deterrent which has kept us safe from the most extreme threats ever since.

    The truth is that while our adversaries lack allies they can trust, we are part of a large family united by values we’ve fought and died to protect – Freedom, justice and a commitment to democracy.

    And as the dangers around us grow, we’re seeing a renewed commitment to NATO across the board.

    That’s why, here in the UK, the Navy is making a substantial commitment to NATO’s New Force Model – including our Carrier Strike Group – in addition to regular contributions to NATO operations.

    But we’re also operating on a smaller multi-lateral level, ramping up our collaboration with our partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) which is the 10-nation coalition aiming to preserve peace in Northern Europe.

    Over the last year, the JEF has been at the forefront of providing military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

    Joint patrols, led by the British Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond, have been joined by Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and Danish ships, supported by Swedish and Danish fighter aircraft.

    And last year we held Exercise Cold Response near Norway, one of the biggest exercises in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

    We’re also strengthening our partnerships beyond Europe.

    In the Indo-Pacific, which we all know is one of the main strategic chokepoints in the world, we are persistently operating two ships to reassure allies and partners, while helping to uphold freedom of navigation in the region.

    By 2030, our five new Type-31 frigates will further enhance our global reach.

    And at an industrial level, the T-26 continues to garner interest in the export market, having already been selected for the Hunter class frigate programme in Australia and the Surface Combatant programme in Canada.

    But you and I know there is much more we can do.

    And one of my priorities will be to make sure we get even more out of our international ties both at an operational and industrial level.

    The three lessons I’ve outlined today – strengthening industry, encouraging innovation and bolstering partnerships – are embodied in what is our most powerful partnership of the last few decades – AUKUS.

    AUKUS is not just creating thousands of skilled jobs here in the UK, strengthening our industrial base.

    And it’s not just enabling the sharing of skills and expertise as we break new ground together on cutting-edge designs.

    But, crucially, it’s uniting three great allies as we work together to protect our common interests.

    That is the benchmark for the kind of deals we’re looking to make in the coming months and years.

    So, as I’ve said, we’re living at a dangerous time.

    A period of rising dangers.

    But some things have not changed.

    Our maritime power is as important as it has ever been.

    So we must do everything we can to enhance Sir Henry’s great legacy through industry, through innovation and through international partnerships.

    We must continue to channel his great willpower and his great belief in the values that underpin our daily lives.

    Because, if we do not, the warning he gave to Mrs Thatcher still holds true; “We shall be living in a different country whose word counts for little”.

  • James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on a Ceasefire in Israel and Gaza

    James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on a Ceasefire in Israel and Gaza

    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.

  • Chris Philp – 2023 Statement on Policing the Coronation Protests

    Chris Philp – 2023 Statement on Policing the Coronation Protests

    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.

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at the Agriculture Breakthrough Ministerial Meeting

    Anne-Marie Trevelyan – 2023 Speech at the Agriculture Breakthrough Ministerial Meeting

    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.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to the Education World Forum

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to the Education World Forum

    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.

  • James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on the Execution of Habib Chaab

    James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on the Execution of Habib Chaab

    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.