UKPOL.CO.UK

Tag: Speeches

  • Theresa May – 2018 Speech in China

    Below is the text of the speech made by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, in China on 31 January 2018.

    Thank you, Premier Li.

    I’m pleased to be here in Beijing today, on my first official Prime Ministerial visit to China.

    And although I may be visiting in winter I’ve had the warmest of welcomes for which I am grateful and I welcome the opportunity we’ve had today to discuss a wide range of topics in an open way, important issues which face us both and I look forward to continuing discussion over dinner tonight and with President Xi tomorrow.

    I am pleased that we have agreed to intensify the “Golden Era” of UK-China relations.

    The UK and China are both global powers with a global outlook. You made reference Premier Li to the UK leaving the EU as we do so we become ever-more outward-looking and as China continues to reform and open up, we are committed to deepening our strong and vital partnership and that relationship.

    Our relationship is broad and deep, and it delivers real benefits for both countries. We are working together to tackle global and regional security challenges such as North Korea, modern slavery, threats to aviation security; to build sustainable economies of the future and enhance our bilateral trade and investment relationship; and to develop our strong education and societal links.

    Allow me to say a few words of detail on each of these.

    Global Issues

    As fellow permanent members of the UN Security Council and the G20, we are committed to jointly addressing global challenges, indeed steel is one of those challenges that the G20 has discussed, and protecting and promoting the Rules-Based International System.

    We have discussed North Korea, agreeing that its pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes is illegal, reckless, and poses an unacceptable threat to international peace and security.

    We have agreed the full and effective implementation of UN Security Council sanctions is vital to persuade the North Korean regime to change course and abandon its illegal activity.

    And we have agreed today new measures on aviation security, designed to improve aviation security standards in both the UK and China by sharing more information and undertaking visits to share best practice and observe standards of implementation.

    We will also do more together to tackle the scourge of modern slavery. To disrupt and prosecute the organised crime groups responsible and to protect victims. And we will begin new joint work to tackle other forms of serious organised crime, including the illegal supply of synthetic drugs.

    Trade and Investment

    We’ve discussed how our economies have complementary strengths. Trade between our two countries is already at record levels, worth over £59 billion, UK exports to China have grown by over 60% since 2010. The UK is already one of the largest European recipients of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment. The UK is the world’s largest exporter of financial services and UK firms are leaders in China’s market.

    We are determined to deepen our trading relationship even further, and are ambitious for what our future trade relationship will be.

    We will work together to explore all options to deliver a high level of ambition for the future trading relationship and have today launched a joint trade and investment review to identify priorities for promoting growth in goods, services and investment. And as Premier Li has referred to, later today we have the inaugural meeting of the new UK-China CEO Council, which will bring together business leaders and Ministers to strengthen trade and economic cooperation.

    To pave the way for this ambitious future trading relationship, we have agreed new measures to improve market access in China and remove barriers to trade, includes an agreement make progress on lifting the BSE ban on British beef exports within the next 6 months and to an agreement to allow exports of a broader range of dairy products.

    We have also agreed to open up the Chinese market to our great UK financial services expertise to reach more Chinese consumers.

    And we’ll be pleased to welcome a significant number of major new commercial deals due to be agreed during this visit expected to total over £9 billion pounds, creating and securing jobs and prosperity both here and in the UK.

    We welcome the opportunities provided by the Belt and Road initiative to further prosperity and sustainable development across Asia and the wider world. And as with the Asian Infrastructure and Investment bank, the UK is a natural partner for the Belt and Road initiative with our unrivalled expertise. And as I’ve discussed with Premier Li, we’ve discussed how the UK and China can continue to work together to identify how best we can cooperate on the Belt and Road initiative across the region and ensure it meets international standards.

    We will work together to encourage free and fair trade, ensure a transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system, and build an open global economy that works for all. And as partners committed to global free trade, but as our companies innovate and create new products they are confident that their intellectual rights and property will be fully protected including against cyber threats.

    And as Premier Li mentioned and reminded us we’ve also discussed overcapacity in global market sectors such as steel and the need to see CG20 principles adhered to and further action taken to ensure unfair trading practices are tackled.

    People-to-people

    Our societies share broad and deep cultural ties. There are already strong links between the people of the UK and China, not just between our governments.

    Chinese students already constitute the largest single source of overseas students in the UK, with the UK welcoming 155,000 students currently in the UK, who make a valuable contribution to your society, worth as well as adding an estimated £5 billion annually. There are also now some 9,000 young British people studying and interning in China, with numbers up by 60% since 2013.

    And today we have agreed to go even further on our education partnership, including by extending the pioneering Shanghai Maths Teacher Exchange primary school programme for a further two years to 2020, and expanding the programme to secondary schools.

    We have also agreed to launch a new “Global Partners 2020” programme, to build better direct links and networks between our future leaders across government, business and academia.

    Conclusion

    The UK and China are global partners for the long-term.

    We are committed to building on our deep and mature ties to promote global peace and prosperity in the 21st century.

    So Premier Li, I look forward to continuing our discussions.

    Q+A:

    Question: What do you plan to do differently on Brexit and outside of Brexit? And on international threats, Trump called China a threat? Do you agree?

    PM: On the first point that you raised, in relation to what the government is doing on Brexit and on the domestic agenda. On Brexit we’re obviously working to that future trading relationship with the EU, we achieved sufficient progress in December and we’re now taking that next step to ensure we get the best Brexit deal for the UK and that means will be a deal that takes back control of money, laws and borders and also able to maintain a good trading relationship with the EU for the future, because that is good for both the UK and EU.

    On the domestic agenda if you look at what we’ve been doing over the recent weeks and months I think that there are very many people who want that they and their families can achieve the British dream, of ensuring that each generation has a better future than the last. For a lot of young people that’s about owning their own home, being able to get their foot on the housing ladder, we’ve cut stamp duty for 95% of first time buyers and I’m pleased to say that figures out only last week show that the highest number of first time buyers in the last year for a decade. We’ve also been ensuring that young people get start the best start in life with a good education, nearly 2 million more children in good and outstanding schools now. And we also want to ensure in the work we do that we continue to cut the deficit and develop a balanced approach to economy, we are seeing good jobs being created, unemployment is at its lowest level since the 1970s and yes we do need to do more, and we need to ensure that we are talking about what we’ve already achieved to those young people who worry they’ll get their own home, to parents concerned about the education their children will be getting and about the jobs for the future for their children. And that’s what we’ll be doing, and what we’re committed to delivering on that.

    And if you talk about the role of china, what we’ve been discussing here is the excellent relations we have with our golden era of UK – China relations. But how we can be working together not just to improve those links between us which will be of benefit in the UK and in China and in delivering and working together on those global issues such as N Korea and other issues like modern slavery which have an impact around the world.

    Question: I understand a series of corporate agreements have been signed, same time witnessing rising isolationism – what measures will china and the UK take to boost globalisation and free trade? And to the UK Prime Minister, Brexit is not just an issue for British but also for Chinese people – china the best partners for the UK after Brexit – how do you see prospects of relationship with China?

    PM: Thank you and the second question to me was about Brexit and the impact that this will have. As we leave the EU we will become a country that is able to operate an independent trade policy to sign free trade agreements around the rest of the world. And that is exactly what we will be looking to do. And it is in the best interests of the people in the UK but also those free trade agreements bring benefits to the countries with whom we sign them. Also, we will be a more outward looking country, to build a global Britain that is able to sign those free trade agreements that is able to continue to play its role on the world stage in the various multilateral organisations we’re part of, working alongside china and other members for example in the United Nations.

    But I think in terms of the future for the relationship between the UK and China after we leave the EU, today we’ve agreed a joint trade and investment review which I think is a good step towards looking towards what our future trade relationship can be when we have that freedom outside membership of the EU of being able to arrange those agreements by ourselves on a bilateral basis.

    And as Premier Li has said, there are many concrete examples already of how that trade relationship is developing between our countries. And I think the message of free trade and the importance of free trade is best seen by the examples of the actual trade we see which brings jobs and investment to China and the UK.

  • Chris Bryant – 2018 Speech on Bermuda

    Below is the text of the speech made by Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for the Rhondda, in the House of Commons on 29 January 2018.

    The relationship between the United Kingdom and the overseas territories is an important but complex one. In large measure, the overseas territories are independent of the UK. They make their own decisions and draw up their own laws, which are ruled on by their own courts, but that is not the end of the story. Their constitutions have been drawn up in consultation with Her Majesty’s Government, their Governors are appointed by Her Majesty’s Government, and their external affairs, defence, internal security and policing remain the responsibility of the Governor, acting on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government.

    The UK Government often step in, sometimes with financial and military support, as happened recently in the Caribbean following the terrible hurricane season. At other times, the UK Government take a different line on a matter of important policy, such as when I, as a Minister, had to suspend the Government in Turks and Caicos because of corruption, or when David Cameron pushed the overseas territories to implement public registers of preferential ownership so as to end some of the secrecy that attends the financial provisions in those territories, which have sometimes brought the British financial system into disrepute.

    That is as true for Bermuda as it is for any of the other overseas territories. I honestly have no desire to upset the delicate balance, but it is my firm belief that British citizens should enjoy the same freedoms in Bermuda as in England or Wales or, for that matter, Northern Ireland.

    Bermuda has made significant strides in recent years on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Immigration law has been changed to allow immigration rights for non-Bermudian same-sex partners of Bermudians. Gays and lesbians, either by themselves or as a couple, are now able to adopt, and its anti-discrimination legislation includes protection on the basis of sexual orientation.

    Another positive step came last year. On 5 May, the Supreme Court in Bermuda ruled in a case brought by Winston Godwin and his Canadian fiancé, Greg DeRoche, that

    “the Applicants were discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation…when the Registrar refused to process their Notice of Intended Marriage…The Applicants are entitled to an Order of Mandamus compelling the Registrar to act in accordance with the requirements of the Marriage Act; and…A Declaration that same-sex couples are entitled to be married under the Marriage Act”.

    It was clear that the then Bermudian Government were not very happy with the ruling. They had held a very poorly attended referendum on the matter the year before, on 23 June 2016—that was quite a day for referendums. It was a referendum that no lesbian or gay organisation or individual had ever called for, but which the Government insisted on. That referendum suggested, on a turnout of less than 50%, that Bermudians opposed both same-sex marriage and same-sex civil unions by roughly two to one, which was why Justice Charles-Etta Simmons made the following clear in her summation:

    “The politicians failed, the referendum failed, so I will step in and protect the rights of a minority”.​

    Many people in Bermuda, and in many other overseas territories and countries around the world, rejoiced at that moment.

    There were two sensible, non-confrontational courses that the Bermudian Government could have taken: abide by the ruling of the Court; or appeal to the Privy Council in this country—that is the standard process for appealing a decision. In fact, the Minister of Home Affairs announced on 9 May that the Government would not appeal, and on 31 May, the first same-sex marriage took place in Bermuda. There have now been eight such marriages in total and four further publications of banns of marriage.

    Then came a new Government, after an election, who decided to draft a law to abolish same-sex marriage and replace it with “domestic partnerships”, albeit allowing those same-sex marriages that had already been celebrated to stand, rather in a position of limbo. It is a deeply unpleasant and very cynical piece of legislation. It sounds quite nice on the face of it, as if it is just the same as civil partnerships in this country, but it is not. It seeks to keep marriage officers separate from domestic partnerships officers, as if to protect them from some kind of infection. It allows a domestic partnership to be voided on the sole grounds of “venereal disease”. It was introduced by a Government whose members have openly declared that they are opposed to civil unions of any kind whatsoever and pretended not even to know that same-sex couples have regularly been denied the right to make important medical decisions on behalf of their sick and dying partners in Bermuda.

    Section 53 of the law states:

    “Notwithstanding anything in the Human Rights Act 1981, any other provision of law or the judgment of the Supreme Court in Godwin and DeRoche v The Registrar General and others delivered on 5 May 2017, a marriage is void unless the parties are respectively male and female.”

    In all the history of legislation, I have never seen a measure that so clearly declares from the outset that it is inconsistent with all the other laws in the land, including the Human Rights Act, the constitution and the judgment of the Supreme Court. It is almost begging the Supreme Court to come to exactly the same decision as it did last year. Unfortunately, this Bill was agreed by both Houses in Bermuda on 8 December, but it cannot become law unless and until the UK-appointed Governor, John Rankin, signifies Royal Assent on behalf of the Government, which so far he has not done.

    I believe that the Governor is entirely within his rights to delay a final decision or, if he chooses, to refuse Royal Assent, as the Bermudian constitution states at section 35:

    “unless he has been authorised by a Secretary of State to assent thereto, the Governor shall reserve for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure any bill which appears to him, acting in his discretion—

    (a) to be inconsistent with any obligation of Her Majesty or of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom towards any other state or power or any international organisation;

    (b) to be likely to prejudice the Royal prerogative;

    (c) to be in any way repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution;

    (d) to affect any matter for which he is responsible under section 62 of this Constitution; or

    (e) to relate to currency or banking.”

    On the basis of least two of those limbs, the Governor has very good cause not to grant Royal Assent.​

    As section 12 of the constitution expressly guarantees freedom from discrimination and the Bermudian Human Rights Act 1981 also expressly prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation on at least seven different points, it is difficult to disagree with the Supreme Court, and therefore equally difficult to see how the Governor could agree Royal Assent. There are other reasons why the Governor should withhold assent. It would have been one thing if the Bermudian Government had introduced civil partnerships as a forward step when there was no such provision in law in Bermuda, but this is a retrograde step—it is taking a step backwards—that deliberately limits the rights currently enjoyed by many Bermudians.

    Incidentally, this is not just a matter of marriages contracted in Bermuda. The law also applies to Bermuda-registered ships, including many cruise liners that used to be registered out of the United Kingdom, so the service of marriage at sea that Cunard and P&O offer, such as on the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth—there is some irony in this—is currently available to same-sex couples. I understand that there was a great big party on one P&O liner when the Supreme Court decision was announced—considerable amounts of champagne were drunk—and there have since been three same-sex marriages on board P&O cruise liners. If the proposed law goes ahead, those marriages will cease. Cunard believes it is likely that Bermudian law will not permit a same-sex wedding ceremony on board its ships after the end of this month, adding:

    “We are very unhappy about this decision and we do not underestimate the disappointment this will cause those guests who have planned their weddings.”

    I am certain that those people will be taking new cases to the Supreme Court in Bermuda.

    I have received a great number of emails, tweets and messages about this issue. Some of them have been quite pleasant, but others have not. Some have told me in very robust terms to butt out, saying this should just be up to Bermuda, but I disagree. This matter impinges on how Britain is viewed around the world, and I take just as active an interest in the human rights of LGBT people in Moscow, Tehran and Beijing as I do in the human rights of those in Hamilton, because the thing is that human rights are, to use a Biblical phrase, a seamless garment. We cannot divide them up. As one Bermudian put it in an email to me,

    “all people have the right to be equal under the law and the right to exercise their full range of human rights, without exception. This is how I live my life and this is what I encourage others around me”

    to do.

    Black and white, man and woman, gay and straight, Russian, Iranian, American, Canadian and Bermudian—it is all exactly the same. We are all human beings and our human rights should not differ. To the person who told me not to interfere because we have not yet sorted out Northern Ireland, I should add that when the Labour Government legislated in favour of LGBT rights in England and Wales, we decided to advance that legislation in Northern Ireland as well, even when Northern Irish politicians objected. The Government here in Westminster need to look hard at the situation in Northern Ireland and implement equality. It is unfair that our Northern Irish brothers and sisters are unable to enjoy the same rights as everybody else.​

    Some people say, “You change hearts and minds first, and then you change the law.” I profoundly disagree with that. There is clear evidence that changing the law helps to change people’s hearts and minds. For two centuries and more, people—including people who considered themselves to be good upstanding Christians—considered slavery to be just part of the natural order. It was laid down and allowed. Indeed, many bishops had large plantations and many slaves. We now know that that was a cruel and despotic belief. Today, we find it unthinkable that people could conceive of slavery as acceptable.

    It is my profound belief that in 100 years’ time, people will wonder what on earth people were thinking when they condemned homosexuality as a sin, when they barred gay and lesbian couples from declaring their love for one another in marriage, and when they fought tooth and nail to say that marriage had to be exclusively between a man and a woman. Because, really, what harm does it do anyone else if two men are allowed to marry? Has the sky fallen in in Bermuda? Have straight husbands suddenly abandoned their wives, or have heterosexual wives run off with each other? Have straight marriages lost their sparkle? Of course they have not.

    If anything, straight couples should be rejoicing that so many people want to form long-lasting, stable relationships and to get married, because marriage is a thing of beauty. The public declaration of love between two people—from this day forward, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part—binds people and families together. It gives a safe home to thousands of children and to elderly parents as well. It enriches life and gives hope, and often it banishes the loneliness that for generations and generations gay men and lesbian women thought would be their lot.

    For many gay men and lesbian couples, same-sex marriage provides a public affirmation that chases away the ghosts of shame and self-loathing that so many grew up with thanks to the hateful judgmentalism of others. Why on earth would anyone want to deny that to anyone else? Why on earth would a Christian want to deny that to anyone else? Why on earth would we perpetuate the homophobia that has left youngsters emotionally bruised by hateful taunts in the playground, or physically battered almost to death outside gay bars because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

    Of course I would much prefer it if the Governor did not sign the Domestic Partnership Bill into law—if he did not grant assent. I hope he does not, and I hope that the Foreign Secretary does not instruct him to do so. If necessary, I hope he just lets it lie on the table until the Supreme Court has another go, as it almost certainly will. What would be even better, if I am honest, would be if the Bermudian Government thought again, respected all their fellow citizens, embraced the principle that the first rule of equality is to protect minorities, and withdrew the Domestic Partnership Bill. I say to the Minister for Home Affairs in Bermuda, the honourable Walton Brown, “If you withdraw the Bill, it will one day be the single action in your political career of which you will be most proud. One day it will be, and your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will say, ‘That is what he did.’”

    To the Premier, the honourable David Burt, I would add, “You are a very clever man. You graduated cum laude from George Washington University and you led ​the Progressive Labour Party very successfully to power in the elections last year. You have said publicly that homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice, and that this is not really about your religious beliefs, and yet you hold that same-sex marriage is just not culturally acceptable. Those are your words.” I am sorry, but that is just cruel. If this is an innate part of some people’s personality—some would say that God created them that way—it is simply cruel to deny an opportunity that everybody else would want for themselves. It is not rational and it is not progressive—it is just naked prejudice.

    The Labour party of which I am a member has always supported LGBT rights, even in the dark days of the Victorians, the Edwardians and the Georgians, right up to legislating to get rid of the horrible legislation in the 1960s. I say to Bermuda and to the Premier of Bermuda, “I hope you change your mind.” I hope Bermuda changes its mind, and I hope the Government do not sign this legislation into law.

  • Steve Baker – 2018 Statement on Leaving the EU

    Below is the text of the statement made by Steve Baker, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, in the House of Commons on 30 January 2018.

    I will begin by setting out our approach to publishing economic analysis, I hope once and for all.

    I can confirm that—I think the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) will want to listen to this. I can confirm that when we bring forward the vote on the final deal that we agree with the European Union, we will ensure that the House is presented with the appropriate analysis that the Government have carried out, so that the House can make an informed decision. All Members must surely agree, however, that the Government cannot be expected to put such an analysis into the public domain before it has been completed. That would misrepresent our views. Furthermore, the Government cannot be expected to publish the analysis while the negotiations continue, which would surely harm the national interest. Parliament has rightfully agreed that Ministers have a duty not to publish anything that could risk exposing our negotiating position.

    Let me now turn to the article that prompted the urgent question. It is a selective interpretation of a preliminary analysis. It is an attempt to undermine our exit from the European Union. As I have told the House before, the Government are undertaking a wide range of analysis on our exit from the EU. The next stage of that analysis, summarised in a draft paper presented to Ministers this month, has been a cross-Whitehall effort to support our negotiating priorities. It has not been led by my Department, and it is not yet anywhere near being approved by Ministers. Even the ministerial team in my Department has only just been consulted on the paper, in recent days, and we have made it clear that it requires significant further work. In fact, I saw this report myself only this morning. The analysis to which I believe this article refers is a preliminary attempt to improve on the flawed analysis around the EU referendum. It is there to test ideas and to design a viable framework for the analysis of our exit from the EU. At this early stage, it only considers off-the-shelf trade arrangements that currently exist; we have been clear that these are not what we are seeking in the negotiations. It does not yet consider our desired outcome: the most ambitious relationship possible with the EU, as set out by the Prime Minister in her Florence speech.

    Such an agreement is in the interests of both the UK and the EU. Therefore, the scenarios in this analysis continue to suffer from the flaws we have seen in previous analyses of this type. Such analyses have been proved to be wrong in the wake of the referendum, not least because there is huge uncertainty around any forecast, especially in the long run and especially in the context of a major strategic choice.

    It is the Government’s job to improve on this analysis, but to do so we first have to understand where it went wrong previously. That is what the analysis to which this article refers is: it is not a forecast for our preferred outcome of the negotiations; it does not yet properly take account of the opportunities of leaving the EU.

    Finally, on 23 June 2016 the people of this country took a decision to leave the EU in the context of a wide range of economic information. The purpose of this analysis is not to question that decision, which this House voted overwhelmingly to uphold. I hope all Members of this House will agree that we should continue to respect the result of the referendum.

  • Gavin Williamson – 2018 Speech on Modernising Defence

    Below is the text of the speech made by Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Defence, in the House of Commons on 25 January 2018.

    I undertook to return to the House at the earliest possible opportunity to update hon. and right hon. Members on the programme to modernise defence, which the Ministry of Defence will be conducting in the months ahead.

    Following agreement of the high-level findings of the national security capability review by the National Security Council, I have agreed with the Prime Minister and Chancellor that we should take forward its recommendation for a programme of further work to modernise defence to deliver better military capability and value for money in a sustainable and affordable way. This is essential if defence is to make its full contribution to national security.

    The 2015 national security strategy and strategic defence and security review set out a clear ambition to ensure that the armed forces can tackle the threats that we face. It also proposed important new policy initiatives, including a stronger international approach, pursuit of innovation, modernised personnel policies and defence making a bigger contribution to our national prosperity, and we are making real strides to unlock greater efficiency and productivity.

    Protecting the United Kingdom and our people remains our first priority and responsibility. As the threats we face become more complex and intertwined, we will need to work ever more closely with our NATO allies. We can also expect to remain actively involved with our partners in the Gulf in tackling shared threats to our security, and the Asia-Pacific region will become more important to us in the years ahead. The Ministry of Defence is making a major contribution to our prosperity as we procure the equipment our armed forces deserve and support defence exports, in which there have been recent successes, most notably the £6 billion Typhoon contract agreed with Qatar.

    Significant events last year—the callous terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, and the major storms that ravaged British dependencies in the Caribbean—are reminders of our wider responsibilities. We need to contain threats that have their origin overseas and be prepared to react swiftly and effectively when crises arise. As we identified in 2015, this will require the joint force we are building to be versatile and agile. It will need to be capable of operating in all five domains: land, sea, air, space and cyber. It will need to be international by design, routinely exercising and operating with allies and partners. It will need to be credible and capable of operating against state and non-state threats—normally not alone but with NATO allies and other partners, but we must also be able to act on our own if and when required. It must be able to contribute to our national security at home, working with the police and other national security organisations.

    While the major elements of our plans for Joint Force 2025 remain the right ones, in order to secure competitive advantage over our potential adversaries we need to ensure that we can move quickly to strengthen further our capabilities in priority areas and reduce the resources we devote elsewhere.​
    The Government commissioned the national security capability review to ensure that we have the policy and plans to implement our national security strategy, so that our investment in national security capabilities is as joined-up, effective and efficient as possible to address current national security challenges. A report will be published later in the spring.

    As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said in her recent Lord Mayor’s banquet speech, the threats, risks and challenges have become more complex and intertwined and have developed in areas and ways that we broadly expected, but at a much greater pace than was foreseen. The defence budget is £36 billion this year—the fifth largest defence budget in the world—and it will increase by £1 billion each year so that it will be almost £40 billion by 2021. The UK remains one of the few countries to exceed NATO’s 2% spending target, and this Government have committed to continue to increase the defence budget by at least 0.5% above inflation every year. However, we must do more to ensure that we use our resources effectively and deliver the efficiencies that the Department has committed to, so that they can be reinvested in the capabilities we require for our armed forces.

    It is for these reasons that I have agreed with the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to launch the modernising defence programme so that we can strengthen and modernise the armed forces to meet the threats that the NSCR identified. Modernising defence will allow us to deliver better military capability and value for money in a sustainable and affordable way, and it will allow us to ensure that defence capabilities complement other national security capabilities in the most effective way. I am determined to realise this goal through a modernised, more productive and more effective joint force that can deter threats more effectively and ensure that we can deliver what is required of defence today and succeed in any future conflicts. Turning this approach into reality will be my key goal for the modernising defence programme.

    This programme will involve four strands of work. The first three will optimise how the MOD is organised and is operating, identify further efficiencies and ways to be more productive, including through an aggressive programme of business modernisation, and improve our performance on the commercial and industrial issues. The fourth strand will look at the capabilities that defence requires to contribute to our three national security objectives today and in the future, but also, most importantly, to understand the ever-changing threats that this country faces. I am determined to use the modernising defence programme to ensure that defence can make its full contribution to our national security on a sustainable basis.

    I will speak to right hon. and hon. Members about this programme of work on a very regular basis, and I will keep the House updated as decisions are made. In the meantime, I would warmly welcome any contributions that right hon. and hon. Members would like to make. My Department and I will be consulting beyond the House as this programme of work gets under way in the weeks ahead.

    Protecting our national security and the safety of the British people both at home and abroad remains the Government’s first priority. Let us make no mistake—the world is becoming a more dangerous place. We cannot afford to shy away from this reality, nor can we take our ​security for granted. But even more than that, in a post-Brexit world Britain must continue to champion the global good. It must continue to reach out to seize global opportunities and deal with global threats. Our history teaches us that we cannot have prosperity without security. To protect that prosperity we must have armed forces primed and ready to tackle the challenges to come.

  • Chloe Smith – 2018 Speech at SOLACE

    Below is the text of the speech made by Chloe Smith, the Minister for the Constitution, on 25 January 2018.

    I’m extremely pleased to be here before you today and it’s an important part of my role to speak to the people charged with the responsibility for the effective running of the electoral processes that underpin our overall democratic system.

    As some of you might be aware, I was the Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform five years ago and being able to look back at the work I was leading then gives me an opportunity to acknowledge just how much has been achieved by you all.

    We have much new work in train, such as changing the provisions relating to overseas electors, responding to the recommendations in the report on electoral fraud by Sir Eric Pickles – including the piloting of ID in polling stations and changes to postal voting that will be tested at the elections in May – and plans to reform the position on the annual canvass.

    Change has not stopped whilst I have been away from the elections brief and I hope to take forward further change for the better in the coming years also. That is a journey we will want to make together, taking account of our various needs and views and involving other major partners such as the AEA and Electoral Commission.

    We have had, on a UK-wide basis, two General Elections, a European Parliamentary election and a referendum, plus the whole range of more local level polls that happen on a regular basis – and that these have been successfully delivered. That is an impressive track record and I thank you for your role in delivering those polls alongside substantive system changes.

    Modernising registration to build on IER

    First I’d like to deal with IER, familiar to us all. IER represents the biggest change to electoral registration in over 100 years and has brought some aspects of registering to vote into the 21st century. The introduction of IER was managed in such a way that register completeness remained stable – thanks to a major effort by government and EROs during the transition – while register accuracy improved considerably. IER has also significantly reduced the risk of registration fraud.

    Making registration more digital was also transformative. More than 30 million people have used our digital service, most of them directly through the website which continues to receive very high user satisfaction. Use of the website peaks around an election and whilst this has an impact on your administration teams which we are keen to address, we need to recognise that our registers are more complete because of this. The availability of the website until midnight on the deadline day far surpasses the use of Household Notification Letters or other means of trying to get people to register ahead of an election.

    But our public service reform agenda does not end with the introduction of IER and the digital service. There are further changes we can make to improve service effectiveness and efficiency. As with IER, our reform programme will work best if it is a collaboration, involving all key delivery partners with a focus on the practical changes we can make now.

    We need EROs and their teams to be open to change if our reform programme is to have the benefits we all want. We have already made changes to allow more of the registration process to take place digitally – for example, allowing the e-mailing of Invitations to Register.

    Take up of these new flexibilities has been much slower than expected. When so many other elements of local services are online or digital, why should so many teams continue to use so many paper forms? Especially when citizens’ expectations around communication have shifted so radically.

    I am keen to work with you to understand delivery barriers and to promote good practice – but there will also be a need for leadership within your organisations to build capability in your electoral teams in the same way you have met the challenge of modernisation in other services.

    Reforming the canvass

    So of course, there is a clear role for government to make changes that only we can make to allow you to deliver more modern services. That is why we have put reforming the annual canvass, through legislation to support innovation, at the heart of our modernising registration agenda.

    We recognise that by law the current process is very paper-based, with EROs under a duty to issue sometimes several copies of the same forms to the same households, with inevitably diminishing returns.

    We also know there is a huge opportunity cost here, with much statutory activity involving the pursuit of information from households where there has been no change.

    Of course, we must make changes to the annual canvass only with care. It matters that we give people an opportunity to register to vote as circumstances change and it matters that we keep our registers updated. That’s why we have been piloting changes to the canvass through which we can properly understand the effect of doing things differently and be confident that any changes we make will be not just more economically sustainable but also support high quality registration.

    Our latest pilots ended in December and we are currently evaluating them. The Electoral Commission is also conducting an evaluation. We are confident the pilots will help us make the case for canvass reform to benefit all EROs and their teams. It is too early to say exactly which changes we will make as a result of this process, but we believe there will be ways of harnessing the power of government data, supplemented by your local data, to focus the canvass on areas of change, significantly reducing overall activity without affecting the quality of the register. I very much look forward to working with SOLACE colleagues, the Electoral Commission and the AEA and others as we seek to roll out ideas developed following the pilots.

    Democratic Engagement Plan

    One of the opportunities we want to explore linked to canvass change is refocusing current activity away from form processing to engagement with those people who have been persistently under-represented on the register.

    As I said in Parliament recently, my predecessor, Chris Skidmore, did excellent work in the Every Voice Matters project where he visited every region and nation across Great Britain.

    During this tour he met more than 100 organisations, including representatives of the electoral community to understand some of the barriers to registration for certain groups and how they might be overcome. There was a lot of great activity underway, but also evidence that innovation and engagement could be more widespread.

    In December, the government published its first democratic engagement plan which sets out how we plan to tackle democratic exclusion and increase participation among under registered groups, over coming years. The plan sets out the evidence on registration levels. But it also shows that there is more we can do to understand the picture of registration across the country.

    As part of this, we are going to launch an Atlas of Democratic Variation. Made up of interactive maps, this will bring together a lot of different sources of information on registration, the use of the online service and population data.

    The Atlas will help complete our understanding of what the registration picture is like across the country. And we expect it to inspire activity across the country to plug gaps or build on positive action already under way. I have no doubt that EROs should be among the first users of the Atlas so that you can understand the impact of your activity and judge your success in maintaining a complete and accurate register.

    National Democracy Week

    One other aspect of our democratic engagement work I want to touch on is National Democracy Week. Our inaugural week at the beginning of July 2018 is timed to link in with the Suffrage Centenary celebrations. The overarching aim for the week is to bring together organisations from across the public, private and charity sectors for a week of unified national action.

    A National Democracy Week council has been formed in order to shape and deliver the main focus and format of the event in July and I really welcome the involvement of a SOLACE representative on the Council.

    The government will work with this council and other partners to develop a full programme of events and activity, which will include stakeholder owned activity to promote and encourage engagement in democracy.

    And we are encouraging all local authorities to plan early so that they are able to deliver activity during National Democracy week.

    The aim of that is to inspire people about UK democracy and its importance. Much suffrage-linked activity is aimed at inspiring young people in particular, as well as encouraging more women to get into political and public life. These are both priorities I hugely endorse and I very much hope you will all start putting in place plans to mark National Democracy Week and the Suffrage Centenary in your local area if you do not already have things arranged.

    Elections and other areas

    I will move on now from the package of registration measures now to look at other areas of our work where we want to drive forward positive changes

    Integrity of elections

    Given that you have already heard from Mark Hughes this morning, I will just touch on the area of electoral integrity and tackling fraud, the potential for fraud and, importantly, the perception of fraud.

    We have a clear path for building a democracy that is clear and secure. Over the coming months and years we will be working closely with key partner organisations to deliver a comprehensive programme of work for reforming our electoral system and strengthening electoral integrity.

    This work is guided by Sir Eric Pickles’ comprehensive review, which made a number of recommendations for strengthening the integrity of the electoral process. Mark has already updated you on the progress of these recommendations which will include our plans to trial forms of identification at polling stations in five local authority regions across the country at this years local elections.

    But introducing Voter ID is just one strand of the government’s commitment to improve the security and resilience of the electoral system that underpins our democracy and will ensure that people have confidence in our democratic processes.

    Intimidation in Public Life

    Related to integrity, the Committee on Standards in Public Life has recently published its report on intimidation in public life. If we are to have a strong and effective democracy we need to attract capable people to stand for public office at all levels and we need to ensure that they are supported to be able to get on with their jobs when in office. That report makes a number of recommendations in relation to elections and which we will want to look at carefully.

    Accessibility of Elections

    And just as we need to support those willing to take office, we need to support eligible electors who face challenges in choosing whom they want to represent them. As the Minister responsible for elections it is important to me that everyone in society can participate in our democratic process, and the government is committed to improving the accessibility of future elections, including for disabled people.

    As a government we have taken action to address the challenges disabled people face by ensuring that the register to vote website is compatible with assistive technology, in supporting the production of Easy Read guidance in partnership with the Royal Mencap Society and in working with the Department of Health to bring elections within the remit of the Certificate of Vision Impairment so that people with visual impairment can be more readily informed of support available to them.

    But I do recognise that more needs to be done, as reflected in the 256 responses to the recent Call for Evidence on accessibility of elections. We will use the information and evidence they provide to enhance the government’s understanding of the experiences of disabled people in registering to vote and in casting their votes. In partnership with the Accessibility of Elections Working Group, the government will be publishing a report in Spring of key findings and recommendations to be taken forward.

    The group which includes representatives from SOLACE, the Association of Electoral Administrators, the Electoral Commission and leading charities, is also providing valuable input to the ID pilots, as it is important to the success of those pilots that anyone with a right to vote is able to so.

    Citizen focus

    The citizen focus is something I am keen to promote. I want us to think of the citizen in all aspects of the changes we bring about going forward. The Register to Vote website is a recent product of that kind of thinking, and whilst it may bring some issues in terms of processes, I think it is undeniable that it provides a better and more accessible service for the citizen.

    Law Commission work

    That said, I do appreciate that you and your teams face hurdles in delivering elections also, not least in the actual legislation itself.

    I mentioned the work of the Law Commissions earlier and their review of the legislation and I am pleased to say that this work continues with the support of Cabinet Office as well as the Electoral Commission, the AEA and SOLACE.

    We are hopeful that in the absence of any primary legislative slot, we can find a way to make changes through secondary legislation which brings a reduction in the volume of legislative instruments and consistency to the processes applicable to all polls.

    I recognise that this is also part of removing risk from the delivery aspect of elections. That simplification and consistency can help to avoid errors and helps to reduce demands on resources that are ever more pressured in the context of savings within local authorities and a continuing loss of experienced staff.

    Resilience of electoral services and future planning

    Those demands are something we want to continue to look at, despite the change of the scheduled General Election from 2020 to 2022. 2020, of course, still poses a challenge with the range of elections planned including the new Combined authority mayors alongside PCC and the GLA polls as well as local elections.

    I’m keen to see you, as Returning Officers with personal responsible for delivery, play a role in discussions on this area, whether through SOLACE or individually, in order to get the strategic perspective from within local authorities on how we can best tackle resource and planning issues.

    Overseas electors

    Many British citizens who have moved overseas wish to continue to vote in parliamentary elections in the UK. The government is committed to scrapping the rule that bars British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting. We will shortly publish further details about what we intend to do before the next scheduled General Election in 2022.

    I look forward to continuing to work closely with the electoral community in order to introduce votes for life for British citizens overseas.

    European Parliamentary elections and EU citizens
    The Prime Minister has made clear her intention that the UK leaves the European Union in March 2019.

    Subject to Parliamentary confirmation, we intend to remove the requirement to hold by-elections for the European Parliament where existing party lists are exhausted in the near future, which should remove a previously ever-present risk of resource demands and cost.

    Given that intention to leave, the government is exploring the voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens resident in the UK once we leave the European Union.

    There are many other ongoing initiatives and challenges that face us that I have not included in this speech.

    I repeat my thanks to you for your work.

    I am keen that we most definitely – and collectively – look forward.

    We still have much to do that can improve the electoral process for the public both in terms of registration and the conduct of polls.

    There will be challenges in doing this work as there always are and I look to you, both as SOLACE the organisation and each of you as Electoral Registration and Returning Officers, to play a significant role in helping us to achieve change for the better.

  • Penny Mordaunt – 2018 Speech at Edinburgh University

    Below is the text of the speech made by Penny Mordaunt, the Secretary of State for International Development, at Edinburgh University on 26 January 2018.

    Thank you. I am delighted to be here with you today.

    Ladies and gentlemen, our global food system is failing us. One seventh of the population are going hungry.

    The threats to our food supplies from droughts, floods and other climate shocks are increasing.

    Emerging food crop and infectious livestock diseases threaten human, animal and plant health globally.

    Migration and conflict magnify the challenges for our humanitarian system.

    Put this against the backdrop of a rapidly rising world population, and the urgency of the task is clear.

    Science and technology has a vital role to play in meeting these global threats, and can transform development challenges into opportunities.

    The good news is that we are making progress. The support that the Department for International Development gives to cutting-edge research in the UK, is saving and transforming lives all over the world – from drought tolerant maize, to speeding up tuberculosis diagnosis, to affordable energy paid for through mobile phones.

    Technology and innovation are already transforming our humanitarian responses. I am proud to be standing alongside Bill Gates today. Bill and Melinda’s foundation has been at the forefront of championing innovative approaches to tackling poverty for years, and it is a pleasure to be working alongside them.

    Drones and satellites are helping us map affected areas after disasters such as earthquakes and floods. New digital technologies are helping track emerging diseases which threaten food crops.

    But, with our humanitarian and food systems stretched to breaking point, we must resolve to do more.

    My Department is committed to supporting outstanding science and innovation. We recognise its value in building a more secure, stable and prosperous world for us all.

    This is why DFID is committed to investing 3% of our budget to research that will continue to drive global progress.

    Our Research Review, published just over a year ago, sets out our plans to target our research funding on addressing the greatest global challenges of the 21st century.

    Our aim is to help communities and governments build their own capability and become dynamic vibrant economies. As our trading partners of the future, this is very much in the UK’s interests.

    In Rwanda, by using digital technology, DFID has helped the revenue authority raise taxes, so supporting a sustainable route out of poverty.

    Our commitment to research will mean we can act faster, reach more people – and get the most out of every pound we spend on behalf of the UK taxpayer.

    It is UK science that has been at the forefront in many of our biggest successes.

    A British vet, Walter Plowright, won the 1999 World Food Prize for his work developing a vaccine to help eradicate the global threat of the deadly cattle virus rinderpest – responsible for impoverishing millions of poor farmers around the world.

    Cambridge University works with the UK Met Office and international scientists to track and prevent deadly outbreaks of wheat rust. This disease can have a devastating impact on food supply in some of the world’s poorest places.

    Our scientists, including those I met today from Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities and from GALVmed – are at the forefront of efforts to help some of the world’s poorest people. This is something British people can take pride in.

    Agricultural development

    Agricultural research is one of the most effective investments we can make in development.

    But millions of farmers still lack access to the modern technologies that we take for granted here in the UK. This stifles the potential of African farming. It means that farmers can produce only a fraction of the food they could produce.

    Without cattle that are protected from preventable illnesses and wheat that can withstand the threat of plant diseases – the lives and livelihoods of millions around the world are in jeopardy.

    If we are to feed our world – in the nutritious way that enables people to thrive – we must speed up the pace of agricultural innovation. This will transform lives and economies all over the world.

    That is why I’m proud to announce today new support from DFID to the global agriculture research system, the CGIAR.

    New UK funding to the CGIAR will deliver crop varieties that are more productive, more nutritious and more resistant to droughts and flooding.

    It will help poor farmers improve the health, wellbeing and productivity of their cattle and poultry.

    Ultimately, UK Aid will help farmers put food on the table, educate their children and improve the climate resilience of their crops and livestock.

    Importance of livestock

    Millions of poor people around the world rely on livestock to feed their families, earn a living and send their children to school.

    And Africa is changing fast. Urbanisation is driving great demand for livestock products. This provides wonderful opportunities for livestock producers.

    But these new opportunities are currently hampered by untreatable livestock diseases. The sickness and death that results can devastate the livelihoods of farmers and their families and cause great suffering in livestock.

    Not only that, but many of these diseases can pass to humans, and pose serious threat to the lives of the world’s poorest people.

    DFID’s lasting commitment to research will continue to ensure rising demand for livestock is met in a way which benefits the poor, and protects and improves animal welfare and the environment.

    Partnership with BMGF in agriculture and livestock research

    To succeed, we must continue to work with our partners. That is why my Department joined forces with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010 to tackle the most pervasive risks affecting poor farmers.

    Together, we have supported a new drug for sleeping sickness in cattle – a disease which still kills three million animals each year and impoverishes farmers.

    We are bringing cassava diseases under control, ensuring that the millions of people who depend on cassava can live secure and healthy lives.

    And this morning I was impressed to see how we are working with the Foundation to develop a new and improved vaccine to combat brucellosis. This terrible livestock disease leads to huge economic losses every year – and is a danger to humans as well.

    And we’re not stopping there.

    Today, at Edinburgh University, we are delighted to announce UK funding for the newly established Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health.

    Over the next three years, scientists working here in Edinburgh will be transforming the lives of dairy and poultry farmers in Africa.

    They will advance the science of cattle and poultry breeding to ensure that the livestock sector meets its potential as a source of wealth and prosperity for many developing countries.

    We will also support research to control bovine tuberculosis and other damaging livestock diseases.

    Make no mistake – research investments like these are not only in the interests of some of the world’s poorest. Tackling damaging livestock diseases is firmly in the national interest too. Diseases do not respect national borders.

    They not only shatter the lives of poor farmers in Africa and Asia, but pose real risks to our own food supply. Tackling the spread of African Swine flu or better control of bovine TB for example, can only benefit UK farmers and consumers.

    In this, and across all of my Department’s work, we will actively ensure that animal welfare is protected and improved – recognising that animals are sentient, conscious beings worthy of moral consideration.

    Conclusion

    The UK is, and will remain, an outward-looking global research super-power.

    We are proud of our outward-looking research culture here in the UK – and this government is committed to maintaining our position as a global leader in this field.

    But no one country has all the answers today. We need to work across continents on bold, innovative solutions that harness the best of human ingenuity.

    We know we can deliver spectacular results when we pool our resources and expertise.

    To do this, we will continue to drive innovation through our strong partnerships – with UK academia, with the private sector and with our friends at the Gates Foundation.

    Harnessing UK technology and innovation will help us reduce poverty and alleviate suffering and delivers a safer, more secure world for Britain too.

  • Claire Perry – 2018 Speech on Energy Innovation Investment

    Below is the text of the speech made by Claire Perry, the Energy and Clean Growth Minister, on 25 January 2018.

    Since I last spoke to you, just starting out at the department in June, a great deal has changed, and we have made real progress towards the goal of an economy built around clean growth.

    We launched the Clean Growth Strategy in October, discussing carbon budgets and the gap that has opened over time, we are now estimating that we are just a couple of percentage points off our 4th and 5th budgets, which end in 10-15 years time. Given the pace of change, and the work in R&D and the help of so many of our innovators, I am confident that those gaps will be closed.

    And the following month we published the white paper of our modern Industrial Strategy, which works to link up what we are doing in government, with what we would like to see industry doing, and change the game, to make the conversation between government and industry to drive productivity gains. You will see in there some of the highlights of sector deals and examples of how we will work together going forward. Also included are four big Grand Challenges, things that we know we have to do both to solve our own economic transitional challenges, but also to grow and prosper in a global economy, and one of those challenges is the Grand Challenge of Clean Growth. What is exciting about the past few months is that not only have we put forward 15 policies of how we will get our own carbon budgets, we’ve put that firmly in front of the way in which we want business and government to work together. And this is probably the first time that clean growth and technology has been prioritised as a challenge and opportunity right across government. It is important for clean tech and growth to have a voice at the cabinet table because so much we do works right across government.

    What has also struck me, taking on this portfolio, is that we have focused on delivering on our low carbon budget targets and being one of the first countries to pass our climate change act but we have been a bit shy to celebrate this.

    Since 1990 we have led the G7 group, in cutting emissions in our economy, without sacrificing growth, in fact we have had the fastest growing economy in the G7 over that time. Last year, the PWC report said there were only two countries in the world that were doing enough in terms of decarbonisation to meet the 2 degree global target, and that was China and the United Kingdom so we have been rather shy to celebrate what we have achieved.

    There is a triple test for anything that we do in the green tech space. Does it reduce carbon emissions? Can we see a cost effective pathway for deployment so that we are not overburdening consumers? And does it create a competitive advantage that we can effectively invest in and grow in the UK so that we can be part of this global shift to green technology?

    By setting out what we’ve done and setting out our progress and great successes to date, we have created a much stronger environment for business investment. And for investment in different forms of local technologies.

    I was also struck by successes in renewable energy in the UK, I think it is a strength that the UK has chosen to have a diverse energy mix. There is a role for nuclear at the right cost going forward, we will continue to investigate the scientific truisms of fracking, does it make sense to frack, does it deliver what we want, can it be done in the right way?

    We have also done a lot to bring on the renewables portfolio, buying offshore wind at unimaginably low prices. Building the largest installed offshore wind base in the world and we want to replicate that across the economy, taking the partnership between government and business setting out early stage investment, using tax payer’s money, co-investing with the private sector, using auction mechanisms to drive costs down and continuing to commit to those technologies moving forward.

    So this momentum needs to translate into long term commitments. That is why we were clear in our Clean Growth Strategy about our big R&D investment, hopefully to show that government is making the largest investment of public funds ever into R&D and £2.5 billion of that will do into clean tech.

    Whether it is through the transport sector, through the Faraday Challenge where we want to lead the world in the creation of the next generation of battery technology and use that technology to support what we need in terms of better storage and renewable energy generation.

    We must use these opportunities is to create opportunities with other countries to deliver maximum take up of new technologies, and make them low cost. We want to work with other countries to work together, to drive down costs and create productivity in the UK. Global appetite is huge, in spite of the US pulling out of Paris, all the other countries have worked hard to continue to deliver on the Paris commitments. There is an unstoppable force happening in the world which is a global effort to reduce emissions output and a global effort to collaborate and cooperate in solving some of these low carbon problem solving technologies. We talk a lot to our friends in Norway and removing hydrocarbons from the north sea basin it seems obvious we should work together on carbon capture storage.

    UK-Republic of Korea Smart Energy Innovation Partnership

    It is my pleasure to have Ambassador Hwang joining me today to announce an agreement of £3 million to support a bilateral innovation programme, with just over £3 million in matched funding from the Republic of Korea. This exciting programme will support development and demonstration projects on innovative smart energy technologies and business models, each one involving companies from both the UK and Republic of Korea. Our countries are natural allies in this – we have similar population sizes spread across similarly-sized countries, and we are at similar stages in our development and deployment of smart systems, including the rollout of smart meters.

    Both countries are members of the Mission Innovation Smart Grids Challenge, and actively support innovation in smart energy technologies like storage and demand-side response, accelerating clean energy innovation around the world. As well as learning from one another, we can develop new approaches and, potentially, new technologies together. And we can decarbonise our countries together as a result of this cooperation.

    This partnership will have tangible benefits, including reduced costs for designing and implementing smart systems and technologies. For the UK we can expect accelerated adoption of smart, flexible energy systems, which will save money by reducing deployment time, while our understanding of, and access to, Korean markets will increase, presenting great opportunities for UK businesses. We expect similar acceleration in Korea, again leading to savings, while Korean businesses and policy makers can gain experience of the British system, from regulation to incentives.

    Developing a new platform

    Where government can help we will use all the tools at our disposal to support clean growth and low carbon innovation in our economy, including market design, taxation and regulation, as well as the funding of £2.5 billion we are providing. But as ever it will be industry which leads the way.

    After the last event in June, I asked what more we could do to help the companies we have been supporting to get to market and that’s why today I am delighted to announce the first stage in the development of a new GOV.UK portfolio list bringing together all of the companies we have invested in since 2012. It’s a great first step in terms of showcasing what we are doing and how government is investing.

    This is part of the commitment, made in our Industrial Strategy, to promote overseas investment into the UK’s clean economy, and strengthen our support for UK exporters. It will also be a showcase for our clean tech investments at home and abroad.

    The first iteration of the platform will exist in the GOV.UK energy innovation pages and will include a trial version of the database, providing detailed information on the innovation projects and organisations which have benefitted from government funding since April 2012. This will bring greater transparency to the actions of government, but also highlighting the support on offer, and the types of projects which we in government want to encourage. Ceres Power and Anvil Semiconductors are two such companies, and I am pleased to see them here today.

    Through this platform, we want to engage with investors interested in UK businesses and the level of R&D support available; with UK businesses looking for partnerships and export opportunities; and with colleagues abroad looking for international opportunities. This is just the first stage, and we are inviting feedback from all users – including you, I hope – on how we can expand and perfect the information we provide in time for launching the final site at our Green Britain Week, an annual event that we will be launching to happen every October, where we will be showcasing progress we have made and challenges we need to focus on. I look forward to that, and to hearing your thoughts.

    Ultimately I am here to say thank you, because we can set the mission, the laws that hold our collective parliamentary feet to the fire, when it comes to carbon reduction, we can say the right things in terms of productivity and improvements, but ultimately it comes down to where is the technical excellence, where is the investment, how can we best work together, in solving the challenges that we face and to me it is exciting that clean growth is at the forefront of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

    The opportunity it gives with the unstoppable momentum that the globe is on towards a low carbon future is absolutely huge and I feel privileged to have a chance to work on this portfolio and to meet so many people who are working together on this journey.

  • Philip Hammond – 2018 Speech at Davos

    Below is the text of the speech made by Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Davos on 25 January 2018.

    Over the years, Professor Schwab has had a knack of expressing the tone for the year ahead with his Davos theme.

    In 2010, ‘Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild’ was apt as countries and companies looked to move on from the financial crisis.

    Last year, in the aftermath of the American Presidential elections and the referendum results in the UK, we convened under the banner ‘Responsive and Responsible Leadership’.

    And this year, as the global economy gains momentum, but societal divides and geopolitical uncertainty remain, we discuss how we go about “creating a shared future for the fractured world”.

    Because the fact is the global economy enters 2018 with more momentum than I can remember for a decade.

    The IMF has yet again revised up its global growth prospects.

    Equities are hitting new highs.

    Business confidence is buoyant.

    And we are seeing the broadest synchronised global recovery since 2010, with the IMF estimating that 120 economies saw a pickup in growth last year.

    But despite this, political uncertainty persists.

    And there is an abiding sense that the benefits of economic growth and technological advances are not being shared by all.

    So in the past, where Davos has been the place to proclaim the rewards of globalisation and the fruits of free trade and open borders.

    Today, as winners and losers are more polarised than ever before.

    World leaders and business people have a duty not only to make the case all over again.

    For the societal benefits of the continued cross-border flow of ideas, goods and services, people, and capital.

    Of the technological revolution.

    And for sound money and the modern market economy.

    But to help to ensure that those benefits are genuinely delivered to all our people.

    In the UK we have heard this debate loud and clear.

    It was a feature of the election campaign last year.

    And of course it was a key driver behind the Brexit vote in 2016.

    I’ll say a few words about some of the challenges we face this year to ensure we get Brexit right.

    And then I’ll say a bit about how we look beyond Brexit and make a success of the opportunities provided by the new economy.

    When I spoke at this lunch last year, the UK was yet to trigger Article 50.

    The idea of a transition period had hardly surfaced.

    Since then, we have made significant progress in the negotiations, on issues from citizens’ rights, to our financial settlement.

    And in December, we reached that magic point of “sufficient progress” that has allowed us to move onto the second phase of the negotiations.

    But yet, two weeks ago, when I was in Berlin addressing leaders from across business, government and the media.

    I was surprised to find myself still being asked whether Britain’s decision to leave the EU was reversible.

    So let me be clear.

    Britain will be leaving the European Union on 29th March 2019.

    This decision is not going to be reversed.

    That’s a statement of political reality.

    The challenge now is not to debate the merits or otherwise of that decision.

    It is about how we forge a new relationship between Britain and the EU, that best supports the interests of the British and the European people.

    That backs business, and safeguards jobs.

    And preserves the shared European values that we all hold.

    And that’s where we need people to focus their energy now.

    I welcomed Carolyn Fairbairn’s speech on Monday this week.

    For the contribution it made to the ongoing debate.

    And its focus on securing the closest possible future relationship between the EU and the UK, post Brexit.

    Because while economies across the EU are recovering, this is no time to be complacent.

    None of our European economies are so strong that we can afford to be exposed to any unnecessary economic, fiscal, or financial stability risks.

    And despite the enormous progress that we have made, it right to recognise that the process of the UK moving from membership of the EU to a future and different relationship with the EU, has the potential to present such risks.

    And, notwithstanding the progress that we’ve made, there is still a residual risk of an outcome that does not deliver what we want – to promote jobs and prosperity across this continent.

    The EU27 exports more goods and services to the UK than to any other country, and 43% of UK exports go to other countries in the EU.

    More than twice as many Euros are traded in the UK as in all the 19 Euro area countries combined.

    60% of all UK trade with the EU is conducted through the ports of Calais and Dover.

    Which underlines the importance of a customs arrangement with the EU, that protects free and frictionless trade.

    And avoids significant disruption at the choke points that the ports of Calais and Dover represent.

    And avoids any physical border infrastructure on the island of Ireland.

    Because I agree with Carolyn that those who have suggested the Irish border can be kept open by establishing a customs border in the Irish sea are only shifting the issue, rather than solving it.

    I also agree with Carolyn that an off-the-shelf deal – whether “Canada” or “Norway” – is not the right option for either Britain or the EU.

    The existing models won’t work; because we are trying to do something which is literally unique in the history of trade agreements.

    Because we start from a position of high levels of bilateral trade in goods and services.

    Deeply interconnected economies and supply chains.

    Highly aligned regulatory systems.

    And unparalleled cooperation in security and defence.

    So instead of doing what we’re normally doing in the trade negotiations – taking two divergent economies with low levels of trade and trying to bring them closer together to enhance that trade

    We are taking two completely interconnected and aligned economies with high levels of trade between them, and selectively, moving them, hopefully very modestly, apart.

    And so we should be confident of reaching something much more ambitious than any free trade agreement has ever achieved.

    Something that properly reflects the 45 years that we have spent as members of the EU bringing our economies closer together, and the common regulatory starting point that follows from that experience.

    But, as I know people in this room are very much aware, the UK will leave the EU on 29th March 2019. That’s in just over 14 months time.

    And businesses and people in the UK and across the EU need to know very soon how we get to the end state.

    They need to have confidence that there will be a smooth and orderly path to the new arrangements, rather than a disruptive and dangerous cliff edge.

    That is why we agreed in December the principle of a time-limited Implementation Period of around two years after we have left the European Union.

    Where Britain will be outside of the EU Customs Union and the Single Market, but during which we will replicate the effects of both.

    With reciprocal access to each other’s markets.

    And harmonised customs arrangements, ensuring a frictionless border.

    So that business can continue, pretty much as before.

    And so that businesses only have to make one set of adjustments during the whole process of the UK’s departure from the EU

    Recognising, as we clearly do, the obligations that will continue during such an implementation period.

    And we should look to the March European Council to confirm the detail of this agreement.

    Giving further clarity and certainty to UK and European businesses.

    Of course, achieving progress on the Implementation Period and the future partnership negotiations is of vital importance to the UK economy in the short term.

    And it is my current absolute priority as Chancellor…

    But the long-term future of Britain’s economy is about much more than Brexit.

    As you have heard me say before, and will hear me say again.

    We are on the brink of a technological revolution.

    And you don’t have to be in Davos to experience it.

    Artificial intelligence is transforming our hospitals.

    Robotics is remodelling our supply chains.

    Big data is revolutionising our public services.

    And this time it isn’t just British Universities doing the inventing and the discovery, it is British business and industry.

    Leading the innovation, the development, and the commercialisation.

    Pioneering a revolution that will transform the global economy and the way we live and work.

    And that has the potential to dramatically increase people’s living standards – through delivering a significant upgrade in our productivity.

    This is critical to the future of the UK economy.

    And it’s critical to addressing the societal challenges to which I have already referred.

    Because it cannot be right that it takes a British worker until Friday evening to produce what a German worker has produced by Thursday afternoon.

    And the technological revolution we are embarking upon gives us the perfect opportunity to change all that.

    It is said that robotics in manufacturing and IT have already improved global productivity by 0.4 to 0.6% per year.

    Other studies have suggested that artificial intelligence could double economic growth rates in advanced economies by 2035.

    And this isn’t all about virtual reality and driverless cars.

    Ocado already uses AI to forecast demand for 50,000 items.

    Meaning the suburban middle classes is already blazing the trail for artificial intelligence – the fourth industrial revolution in Britain.

    But there are those who watch this gathering technological revolution with some concern.

    Where people in this room see driverless cars and robotics as opportunities, others, perfectly rationally, see them as threats to their living standards and their employment prospects.

    And our job, as leaders in government and industry, is to ensure that individuals, firms, and the whole economy are able to reap the benefits of this the new technology, and manage the disruption that it will bring.

    At the level of the individual, people must feel that technological change will make them better off, not unemployed.

    So not only must we ensure that people have the skills to maintain their employability through the change, we must ensure that they benefit from it in higher earnings.

    In other words – returns from the greater productivity delivered through new technology cannot just go to capital, they must flow to labour too.

    So that, as this year’s Davos theme implies, the “proceeds of technological change” as we might call them, are spread to the many – not just concentrated in the hands of the elite few.

    And it is not only workers who will be challenged.

    At the firm level, new technology will have significant implications as intermediaries become redundant and business models are challenged.

    Technology-enabled platforms will bring consumers and suppliers together directly in delivering services from finance to communications, to healthcare, and disrupting existing market structures and supply chains.

    And at a macro-economy level, this technological revolution will connect billions of people and businesses around the world.

    Rendering geographical distance an increasing irrelevance for the delivery of services.

    While at the same time reducing the significance of labour cost (and perhaps the significance of economies of scale).

    Allowing manufacturing, once again, to be located close to the point of consumption.

    And like the revolutions that have preceded it, this technological revolution has the potential to raise global income levels, and improve the standards of living of people around the world.

    But to realise this potential we will have to overcome profound new challenges, from the labour market to taxation, from regulation to income distribution that it will bring.

    This won’t all happen overnight.

    And as we saw this week with a robot assistant getting fired from its job in a supermarket in Edinburgh, it won’t all be smooth sailing.

    But it is happening around us already.

    And it is not going to be stopped.

    So our choice is simple.

    Embrace it.

    Meet the challenges and reap the benefits.

    Or hide from it and awake to find the world has moved on and left us behind.

    I am clear, and certainly for an open economy like Britain, we must embrace this challenge.

    Run towards it and champion the benefits it brings to our people.

    And it is incumbent on all of us – governments and businesses around the world – to work closely together to demonstrate to our societies that we harness this potential to deliver a high wage, high growth economy.

    Confident that together we can drive prosperity for all of our citizens.

    Thank you.

  • Penny Mordaunt – 2018 Speech at Kenyan Chamber of Commerce

    Below is the text of the speech made by Penny Mordaunt, the Secretary of State for International Development, at the Kenyan Chamber of Commerce on 19 January 2018.

    Thank you.

    Principal Secretary, Professor Low, Mr Chairman, members of the Chamber.

    I am delighted to be here today to contribute to your discussions on the future of Global Britain and to celebrate the UK’s flourishing economic relationship with Kenya.

    I want to begin by thanking the Chairman and members of the British Chamber of Commerce Kenya for hosting us here today; for the enormous contribution you make to the economies of Kenya and the UK; and the inspiring example that you are setting here in East Africa.

    As members of the British business community here in Kenya, you have a unique understanding of the strong economic ties between our countries.

    You see the potential for these ties to grow and develop.

    You understand that the UK must move away from a relationship with Africa that is dominated by aid, and towards one that embraces the power of economic growth and delivers mutual prosperity.

    And you understand that sustained, job-creating growth will play a vital role in lifting people out of poverty, and allow Kenya to realise its ambition of economic independence.

    You know that great changes are underway, both here in Kenya and at home.

    This is a really exciting moment for the UK’s partnership in Africa and around the world.

    As we prepare to leave the EU and enter a new phase of international engagement, we will renew our focus on our African relationships.

    There are abundant opportunities across the continent, and nowhere more than in Sub-Saharan Africa. These opportunities will only grow over the next twenty years.

    We want to ensure complete coherence on our approach, and we are determined to ensure that our efforts across the continent become more than the sum of their individual parts.

    We are also determined to ensure that our renewed focus on Africa’s economic development delivers jobs, investment and trade.

    For both the UK and Kenya, this presents a tremendous opportunity.

    When we talk of growth in Africa, we risk limiting our outlook to the large economies at either end of the continent. But Kenya should not be overlooked.

    In recent years, it has dramatically improved its ‘ease of doing business’ rankings, rising 30 places in the last three years on the World Bank’s global index.

    The country has an impressive growth rate – greater than most of its neighbours and many developing countries.

    It has an immense appetite for economic expansion and diversification. It acts as a critical regional hub, providing trade access to 200 million people across seven countries.

    And Kenya’s reputation for innovation spreads across the continent. It is leading the charge in sectors, such as mobile money, and transforming lives across Africa.

    As with all growing economies, we know that there are still hurdles to jump. But no one can deny that Kenya is a profound success story – the largest and most diverse economy in East Africa. Throughout this journey, the UK has stood beside Kenya every step of the way.

    The British government’s support has driven essential policy and regulatory changes that have helped Kenya and its neighbours power ahead in recent years.

    We have delivered transformational reforms to the country’s ports, borders and infrastructure; to facilitate trade across the region; and have helped harness the use of technology to improve services and help businesses to reach their customers, including those who might otherwise have been left behind.

    Our commercial impact in Kenya is without equal.

    The UK is the largest cumulative investor in Kenya, and the fourth exporter of goods.

    British companies, both local and global, rank among Kenya’s most successful and respected firms.

    We contribute an enormous proportion of tax revenue to Kenya; seven of the top ten corporate tax payers in this country are British companies, and the revenue they generate delivers investment across the breadth of the Kenyan government’s priorities, changing the lives of Kenyans as their country grows.

    British companies directly employ a quarter of a million Kenyans and are growing the job market. Just recently, Chamber member East African Breweries Ltd / Diageo announced a new site that will bring over 100,000 jobs to the Kenyan economy and shows that British investment is not limited to the major cities.

    Our investment travels through Kenyan society more than other countries, because our firms reinvest significant revenues in their local communities and value chains.

    Unilever, which was recently rated Kenya’s top employer for the fourth time in a row – an incredible achievement that demonstrates the company’s commitment to its workforce.

    And GSK, which has reinvested 20% of profits from its African interests to train community healthcare workers and combat childhood mortality.

    These are just two examples of the tremendous work of members of this Chamber.

    These companies represent the best of British investment. They set a gold standard with their business practices, and in doing so they send a powerful message about British standards and our commitment. They demonstrate the real impact of British commercial engagement on the country’s economic and social progress.

    Across the UK government, we are determined to ensure that we support British companies abroad in every way possible, to boost the economies of both countries and the lives of Kenyan people. On the way here from the airport this morning, I was delighted to visit the Hela garment factory.

    Opened just 18 months ago it already employs over 4,000 people. It has invested heavily in corporate social responsibility, introducing a safe water programme, child care facilities and free lunches for its staff. Other companies in the export zone now follow their example, and Hela’s team already provides training and support for its fellow companies to deliver their own CSR programmes.

    Hela is a world leader in responsible manufacturing and sets the standard for others in East Africa to follow. They are working in partnership with the British government to advise Kenya on how it can grow the manufacturing sector to deliver the best conditions, not just for businesses like theirs, but for the Kenyans who work for them.

    To ensure that this ripple effect is also felt beyond the manufacturing sector, UK aid is also partnering with the government to create more comprehensive Special Economic Zones, allowing companies – not only those who export – to flourish and grow, bringing jobs and wealth to Kenya.

    We want British commercial and government expertise to play its part in preparing Kenya’s economy for its next phase of growth.

    We will continue to invest and scale up our trade initiatives like Trade Mark East Africa, to tackle barriers and to increase the potential for trade success across the region. And we will continue to grow CDC.

    We will increase our infrastructure development funds, building the crucial pathways for trade and investment and removing obstacles to the economic expansion we all want to see.

    We will launch our five-year urban programme to unlock both development and commercial opportunities at the sub-national level, responding to the opportunities that Kenya’s devolution brings.

    And we will enhance our modern partnership with the Government of Kenya to strengthen the bilateral economic relationship and long term prosperity of both countries.

    We are building a great team to do this work, including experts on trade policy, export finance and investment.

    I am delighted that many government colleagues and implementing partners are here with us today, demonstrating our commitment to a whole of government approach on this important issue.

    I hope you will take the opportunity to talk to them about opportunities to partner in your areas of expertise. You are part of the team too. We cannot do this without you.

    The support of the British business community will be crucial to the success of a new, modern UK-Kenya partnership.

    We need you to keep doing all that you are doing. Keep growing the economy, keep creating jobs, keep setting world class standards.

    Please share your success stories. The British are famously bad at ‘blowing our own trumpets’ – but I ask you to promote your successes. This will build confidence in Kenya’s potential and show others what can be achieved. And tell us what you need. If there are changes that need to be made or areas where you need support, talk to our team. They are there to help.

    We have a huge opportunity to shape the health, wealth and prosperity of the nation in a way that grows and protects the economy of the UK too.

    Our development, diplomatic and commercial investment here has helped to create a self-sufficient economy and a powerful trading partner for the future. The UK should be enormously proud of that.

    Kenya now stands strong and we must transition our relationship to a new, modern footing, for the mutual prosperity of our two great nations.

    Thank you for the part that you are playing in that and the part you will play in the future.

  • Theresa May – 2018 Speech at Davos

    Below is the text of the speech made by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, at Davos on 25 January 2018.

    Last year, on this platform, I argued that the benefits of free trade were not being felt by all. And I warned that the failure of political and business leaders to address this threatened to undermine popular support for the entire rules based system on which our global security and prosperity depends.

    But I also argued that we could change this. Not by turning our backs on free trade or the global rules based system – which together have delivered the greatest advances in prosperity we have ever known. But rather by doubling down on them and acting to ensure that the global economy works for everyone.

    One year on, I believe there are grounds for optimism. Global growth has continued to strengthen, with the IMF estimating that global output last year grew by 3.7%. The populism of the Far Left and Far Right has not made the progress that some had predicted.

    And in the UK, we have seen productivity rising, unemployment at its lowest rate for over 40 years and more and more examples of government and business working together to bring new jobs and opportunities to communities across our country.

    We have also seen important progress on global trade. The UK has been at the forefront of championing new trade deals, including the EU’s deals with Canada and Japan. The G20 has agreed commitments to tackle overcapacity in steel and the World Trade Organisation has made progress towards launching plurilateral discussions on digital trade.

    And as we leave the European Union, the UK will continue to be a global advocate of free trade. Pushing for progress on WTO discussions; seeking to bring new partners to the table – and, of course, after we have left the EU, developing new bilateral deals with countries across the world.

    But there is much more to be done by the whole international community. And, frankly, too often our rhetoric in support of free trade here in Davos is not matched by our actions.

    The commitments on steel must be implemented.

    Like the UK, other big aid donors should support developing countries to ensure they can harness the benefits of global growth.

    And the World Trade Organisation still needs to go much further in its reforms, ensuring its rulebook keeps pace with developments in the global economy.

    For example, services make up 6 per cent of global GDP – yet while some recent trade negotiations are achieving more ambitious outcomes on services, the Trade in Services Agreement remains stalled.

    And while the likes of eBay, Amazon and Alibaba have grown into global giants, taking on a central role in the lives of billions around the world, the WTO has been struggling to remove barriers to e-commerce trade for almost twenty years.

    Progress on these issues really matters. Because technological advances continue to revolutionise the possibilities for humanity and we must have the international frameworks in place to ensure everyone can benefit from them.

    Already, access to the internet has been estimated to have the potential to generate over $2.2 trillion in additional GDP and more than 140 million new jobs in developing countries alone.

    While nearly 35 per cent of the adult population in Sub-Saharan Africa has a mobile money account, the highest percentage in the world.

    And now the impact of technology is growing in ways that even a few years ago we could not have imagined.

    Just last week, a drone saved two boys drowning off the coast of Australia by carrying a floatation device to them.

    The use of Artificial Intelligence is transforming healthcare. In one test, machine learning reduced the number of unnecessary surgeries for breast cancer by a third.

    The development of speech recognition and translation is reaching a level where we will be able to go anywhere in the world and communicate using our native language.

    While British-based companies like Ripjar are pioneering the use of data science and Artificial Intelligence to protect companies from money laundering, fraud, cyber-crime and terrorism.

    In all these ways, harnessing the power of technology is not just in all our interests – but fundamental to the advance of humanity.

    But this technological progress also raises new and profound challenges which we need to address.

    For example, many fear that because of technology they and their children will lose out on the jobs of the future.

    And they worry too about how new technologies might be exploited by those with malevolent intentions; and what that could mean for the safety and wellbeing of their families and children.

    So today I am going to make the case for how we can best harness the huge potential of technology.

    But also how we address these profound concerns. So that technology is the force for progress that we all know it can be.

    Right across the long sweep of history – from the invention of electricity to the advent of factory production – time and again initially disquieting innovations have delivered previously unthinkable advances and we have found the way to make those changes work for all our people.

    Now we must find the way to do so again.

    Industrial Strategy

    Let me start with how we can embrace technology.

    Key to this is channelling the power of government and business in partnership to seize the opportunities of technology and create high-quality, well-paid jobs right across the world.

    That is why in the UK I have put the development of a Modern Industrial Strategy at the heart of the government’s agenda.

    It is a new long-term approach to shaping a stronger and fairer economy – and it understands what government and business each bring to the table.

    Because I understand the power of business as a force for good.

    I know that it is free and competitive markets that drive the innovation, creativity and risk-taking that have enabled so many of the great advances of our time.

    But I also understand the good that government can do, creating the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow, and helping them to invest in the future of our nation.

    So the message of our industrial strategy to the world is clear: Britain will be one of the best places in the world in which to start and grow a business.

    The strategy gets the fundamentals right.

    It drives investment in infrastructure at a local as well as a national level.

    And it equips our people with the skills they need – and the skills business needs – to be successful in a changing global economy.

    For if we are to retain popular support for the rules based system, we have to stop and understand – sitting up here in these mountains in Davos – what it can really feel like for someone who has worked for twenty years and who now finds that the job they know how to do today is not going to be a job that needs doing in the future.

    And the answer isn’t to pretend we can sit back and leave it to the labour market alone to resolve.

    We need to act decisively to help people benefit from global growth now.

    That is why as part of our industrial strategy, there is a focus on supporting new jobs and industries that build on the strengths of local communities.

    For example, on our East Coast, Hull is getting behind offshore wind, generating hundreds of jobs in partnership with Siemens.

    And just as we act to help support new jobs today, so we also need to help people secure the jobs of tomorrow.

    So we are establishing a technical education system that rivals the best in the world, alongside our world-class higher education system.

    We are developing a National Retraining Scheme to help people learn throughout their career.

    And we are establishing an Institute of Coding – a consortium of more than 60 universities, businesses and industry experts to support training and retraining in digital skills.

    And I know from my conversations with tech companies how seriously they are taking their own social responsibility to contribute to the retraining that will help people secure new opportunities in the digital economy.

    But this strategy and partnership with business goes further than getting the fundamentals of our economy right.

    It also seeks to get us on the front foot in seizing the opportunities of technology for tomorrow.

    We are delivering the UK’s biggest ever increase in public investment in research and development, which could increase public and private R&D investment by as much as £80 billion over the next 10 years.

    We are at the forefront of the development, manufacture and use of low carbon technologies.

    We are using technology to support the needs of an ageing society, for example by employing powerful datasets to help diagnose and treat illnesses earlier.

    And we are establishing the UK as a world leader in Artificial Intelligence, building on the success of British companies like Deepmind.

    For I believe we have only just seen the beginning of what AI can achieve.

    Imagine a world in which self-driving cars radically reduce the number of deaths on our roads.

    Imagine a world where remote monitoring and inspection of critical infrastructure makes dangerous jobs safer.

    Imagine a world where we can predict and prevent the spread of diseases around the globe.

    These are the kinds of advances that we could see and that we should want to see.

    Already the UK is recognised as first in the world for our preparedness to bring Artificial Intelligence into public service delivery.

    We have seen a new AI start-up created in the UK every week for the last three years. And we are investing in the skills these start-ups need, spending £45 million to support additional PhDs in AI and related disciplines and creating at least 200 extra places a year by 2020-21.

    We are absolutely determined to make our country the place to come and set up to seize the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence for the future.

    But as we seize these opportunities of technology, so we also have to shape this change to ensure it works for everyone – be that in people’s jobs or their daily lives.

    Technological change in the workplace

    Already technology is changing the nature of our workplaces and leaving many people with less predictable working patterns.

    So we need to make sure that our employment law keeps pace with the way that technology is shaping modern working practices.

    Take the example of Uber – a ground-breaking use of technology that has radically changed how people move around in cities across the world. But also a company that has got things wrong along the way – with safety issues and concerns over the protections for its workers.

    The answer isn’t to shut Uber down but rather to address those concerns, and to establish and enforce the standards and protections that can make this technology work for customers and employees alike.

    So employment law needs to preserve vital rights and protections – and the flexibilities that businesses and workers value.

    But we must make sure those flexibilities really do work for everyone, and don’t become a one-sided deal that can become exploitative.

    And that is at the heart of the Review that Matthew Taylor conducted for the UK government last year.

    And we will be working to deliver on it – from exploring the case for reforms to make our employment status tests clearer, to identifying a set of metrics against which to measure job quality.

    Making the internet work for everyone

    Just as people need to feel that technological change in the workplace is to their benefit, so we need to ensure that they have faith that the increasing role of technology throughout their lives is enhancing the opportunities they have and the world in which they live.

    Technologies like the internet were developed with a philosophy that connecting us together would improve people’s lives.

    And in many ways they have. But so far, that hasn’t been completely true for everyone.

    Just this week, a survey in the UK has found that 7 in 10 people believe social media companies do not do enough to stop illegal or unethical behaviour on their platforms, prevent the sharing of extremist content or do enough to prevent bullying.

    The loss of trust is hugely damaging. And it is in all our interests to address it.

    In some areas that means we will need new rules and legislation.

    In others, such as online hatred and bullying, we need norms and expectations of how civilised people should interact in ways that can’t be achieved through legislation.

    The Digital Charter we are developing in the UK sets out the principles of our approach to agree the rights and responsibilities of the online world and to put them into practice.

    It is profoundly pro-business because it seeks to support digital businesses in securing the trust and public confidence that they need.

    At its heart is a set of principles.

    That the same rights people have offline should be protected online;

    That the internet should remain free, open and accessible;

    That people should understand the rules that apply to them when they are online;

    That personal data should be respected and used appropriately;

    That protections should be in place to help keep people safe online, especially children.

    And that the social and economic benefits brought by new technologies should be fairly shared.

    And underpinning all of this is our determination to make the UK a world leader in innovation-friendly regulation.

    Regulation that will make the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business – but also the safest place to be online.

    But when technology platforms work across geographical boundaries, no one country and no one government alone can deliver the international norms, rules and standards for a global digital world.

    Technology companies themselves, investors, and all our international partners need to play their part.

    First, technology companies still need to do more in stepping up to their responsibilities for dealing with harmful and illegal online activity.

    Companies simply cannot stand by while their platforms are used to facilitate child abuse, modern slavery or the spreading of terrorist and extremist content.

    We have made some progress. Last September at the UN, I joined President Macron and Prime Minister Gentiloni in convening the first ever UN summit of government and industry to move further and faster in reducing the time it takes to remove terrorist content online, and to increase significantly their efforts to stop it being uploaded in the first place.

    But we need to go further, so that ultimately this content is removed automatically.

    These companies have some of the best brains in the world. They must focus their brightest and best on meeting these fundamental social responsibilities.

    And just as these big companies need to step up, so we also need cross-industry responses because smaller platforms can quickly become home to criminals and terrorists.

    We have seen that happen with Telegram. And we need to see more co-operation from smaller platforms like this.

    No-one wants to be known as “the terrorists’ platform” or the first choice app for paedophiles.

    As governments, it is also right that we look at the legal liability that social media companies have for the content shared on their sites.

    The status quo is increasingly unsustainable as it becomes clear these platforms are no longer just passive hosts.

    But applying the existing standards of liability for publishers is not straight forward so we need to consider what is most appropriate for the modern economy.

    We are already working with our European and international partners, as well as the businesses themselves, to understand how we can make the existing frameworks and definitions work better – and to assess in particular, whether there is a case for developing a new definition for these platforms. And we will continue to do so.

    Second, investors can play a vital role by considering the social impact of the companies they are investing in.

    This is fundamental to the proper functioning of markets, choice and competition.

    Shareholders should care about these social impacts because the business model of a company is not sustainable if it does not command public support and consent.

    And they can use their influence to ensure these issues are taken seriously.

    For example, earlier this month a group of shareholders demanded that Facebook and Twitter disclose more information about sexual harassment, fake news, hate speech and other forms of abuse that take place on the companies’ platforms.

    So investors can make a big difference here by ensuring trust and safety issues are being properly considered.

    And I urge them to do so.

    Third, in a global digital age we need the norms and rules we establish to be shared by all.

    That includes establishing the rules and standards that can make the most of Artificial Intelligence in a responsible way, such as by ensuring that algorithms don’t perpetuate the human biases of their developers.

    So we want our new world-leading Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to work closely with international partners to build a common understanding of how to ensure the safe, ethical and innovative deployment of Artificial Intelligence.

    And I am delighted that the UK will also be joining the World Economic Forum’s new council on Artificial Intelligence to help shape global governance and applications of this new technology.

    Conclusion

    Many leaders this week are setting out defences of globalisation, open economies, free trade and technological progress – while grappling with how to ensure these operate fairly for all our countries and all our people.

    The test of leadership, however, is what action we take. And I am clear about three things.

    First, the critical nature of international co-operation within the global rules based system – for every country must support and shape the rules for free and fair trade and investment. We cannot pull in different directions.

    Second, that we have to do more to help our people in the changing global economy, to rebuild their trust in technology as a driver of progress and ensure no-one is left behind as we take the next leap forwards.

    But third, above all, we have to remember that the risks and challenges we face do not outweigh the opportunities. And in seeking to refresh the rules to meet the challenges of today, we must not miss out on the prize for tomorrow.

    For the forces of free trade and technological progress which have brought us to this point are as nothing in comparison to their potential to enrich the lives of our children and grandchildren.

    The United Kingdom has a proud history of stepping up, seizing the opportunities of our time and shaping the international rules and partnerships that can deliver progress for all.

    We stand ready to do so again.

    So together, let us renew our commitment to co-operation across governments, business, investors and society at large.

    And let us set ourselves on a path to deliver prosperity and growth for the benefit of all our people, now and for generations to come.

    Thank you.