Tag: Speeches

  • David Gauke – 2018 Statement on John Worboys

    Below is the text of the statement made by David Gauke, the Secretary of State for Justice, in the House of Commons on 28 March 2018.

    With permission, Mr Speaker, I’d like to make a statement on the High Court judgment handed down this morning in the case relating to the Parole Board decision to release John Radford, formerly known as John Worboys.

    This is an important and unprecedented case. The President of the Queen’s Bench Division, Sir Brian Leveson, the most senior judge who heard this case said – it is wholly exceptional. It is the first time that a Parole Board decision to release a prisoner has been challenged and the first time that the rules on the non-disclosure of Parole Board decisions have been called into question.

    The judgment quashes the Parole Board’s decision to release Worboys and finds that Rule 25 of the Parole Board Rules is unlawful.

    This means that Worboys’ case will now be resubmitted to the Parole Board. A new panel will be constituted and updated evidence on his risk from prison and probation professionals will be provided. The panel will then assess anew whether Worboys is suitable for release.

    Those victims, covered by the Victim Contact Scheme, will be fully informed and involved in this process.

    My department also has to reformulate the Parole Board’s rules to allow more transparency around decision making and reasoning.

    Mr Speaker, it is clear that there was widespread concern about the decision by the Parole Board to release Worboys. As I have previously told the House, I share these concerns and, consequently I welcome the judgment.

    I want to congratulate the victims who brought the judicial review and to reiterate my heartfelt sympathy for all victims who have suffered as a result of Worboys’ hideous crimes.

    Mr Speaker, I want to set out, in greater detail than I have previously been able, the reasons why I did not bring a judicial review.

    As I told the House on 19 January, I looked carefully at whether I could challenge this decision. It would have been unprecedented for the Secretary of State to bring a judicial review against the Parole Board – a body which is independent but for which my department is responsible.

    I took expert legal advice from Leading Counsel on whether I should bring a challenge. The bar for judicial review is set high. I considered whether the decision was legally irrational – in other words, a decision which no reasonable Parole Board could have made.

    The advice I received was that such an argument was highly unlikely to succeed. And, indeed, this argument did not succeed. However, the victims succeeded in a different argument.

    They challenged that, while Ministry of Justice officials opposed release, they should have done more to put forward all the relevant material on other offending.

    They also highlighted very significant failures on the part of the Parole Board to make all the necessary inquiries and so fully take into account wider evidence about Worboys’ offending.

    I also received advice on the failure of process argument and was advised that this was not one that I as Secretary of State would have been able to successfully advance.

    The victims were better placed to make this argument and this was the argument on which they have won their case.

    It is right that the actions of Ministry officials, as well as the Parole Board, in this important and unusual case have been laid open to judicial scrutiny.

    I have always said I fully support the right of victims to bring this action. I have been very concerned at every point not to do anything to hinder the victims’ right to challenge and to bring their arguments and their personal evidence before the court.

    Indeed, the judgment suggests that, had I brought a case, the standing of the victims may have been compromised.

    The Court’s findings around how this decision was reached give rise to serious concerns.

    The Court has found that “the credibility and reliability” of Worboys’ account in relation to his previous offending behaviour “was not probed to any extent, if at all” by the Parole Board. And that although the Parole Board was entitled to make enquiries of the police in relation to his offending it did not do so.

    These are serious failings which need serious action to address. In these circumstances, I have accepted Professor Nick Hardwick’s resignation as Chair of the organisation.

    I am also taking the following actions:

    Instructing my officials to issue new guidance that all relevant evidence of past offending should be included in the dossiers submitted to the Parole Board, including possibly police evidence, so that it can be robustly tested in each Parole Board hearing.

    Putting in place robust procedures to check that every dossier sent by HMPPS to the Parole Board contains every necessary piece of evidence – including sentencing remarks or other relevant material from previous trials or other civil legal action.

    Boosting the role of the Secretary of State’s representative at Parole Board hearings – with a greater presumption that they should be present for those more complex cases where HM Prison and Probation Service is arguing strongly against release, as was the case here.

    Working with the Parole Board to review the composition of panels so that the Parole Board includes greater judicial expertise for complex, high profile cases – particularly where multiple victims are involved or where there is a significant dispute between expert witnesses as to the suitability for release.
    And develop more specialist training for Parole Board panel members.
    The judgment also found that blanket ban on the transparency of Parole Board proceedings is unlawful. I accept the finding of the Court and will not be challenging this.

    It was my view from the beginning that very good reasons would be needed to persuade me we should continue with a law that doesn’t allow any transparency. I am now considering how the Rule should be reformulated. When I addressed the House on this matter in January, I said I had commissioned a review into how victims were involved in Parole Board decisions, in the transparency of the Parole Board and on whether there should be a way of challenging Parole Board decisions. That work has been continuing for these past two and a half months.

    Given the very serious issues identified in this case, I can announce today that I intend to conduct further work to examine the Parole Board rules in their entirety.

    As a result of the work that has been completed to date, I have already decided to abolish rule 25 in its current form and will do so as soon as possible after the Easter recess. This will enable us to provide for the Parole Board to make available summaries of the decisions they make to victims.

    In addition, I will bring forward proposals for Parole Board decisions to be challenged through an internal review mechanism where a separate judge-led panel will look again at cases which meet a designated criterion.

    I intend to consult on the detail of these proposals by the end of April alongside other proposals to improve the way that victims are kept informed about the parole process. I am grateful to Baroness Newlove for her help with this part of the review and to Dame Glenys Stacey for her helpful suggestions and review of the way that victim liaison operated in this case.

    I will come back to the House with further proposals as these are developed. But in conclusion Mr Speaker, let no-one doubt the seriousness with which I take the issues raised by this morning’s judgment – nor the bravery of the victims who brought this case to Court.

    I commend this statement to the House.

  • Matt Hancock – 2018 Statement on Sky/Fox Merger

    Matt Hancock

    Below is the text of the statement made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in the House of Commons on 3 April 2018.

    Mr Speaker, I am here in my new capacity as the quasi-judicial decision-maker in relation to the proposed merger between 21st Century Fox and Sky Plc to update the House regarding the CMAs interim report that they issued today.

    The decision-making role is one that my Rt Hon Friend, the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands discharged having met her commitment – given many times on the floor of this House – to the greatest possible transparency and openness the process allows.

    And while I come to this fresh I intend to follow that process of being as open as possible while respecting the quasi-judicial nature of the decision.

    Background and referral

    As this House well knows, after the proposed acquisition was formally notified to the competition authorities last year, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Staffordshire Moorlands issued an Intervention Notice on media public interest grounds – namely of media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards. This triggered a Phase 1 investigation of the merger, requiring Ofcom to report on the specified public interest grounds and the CMA on jurisdiction.

    Having received advice from Ofcom and from the CMA, in September she referred the proposed Sky / Fox merger to the CMA for a Phase 2 investigation on both grounds.

    CMA’s final report

    The original statutory deadline for the final report was 6 March but the CMA has, today, confirmed that this will be extended by a further eight weeks and that the revised deadline is 1 May.

    Once I have received that final report I must come to a decision on whether – taking into account the specified public interest considerations of media plurality and genuine commitment to broadcasting standards – the merger operates or may be expected to operate against the public interest.

    Following receipt of the final report, I will have 30 working days in which to publish my decision on the merger – so if I receive the CMA’s report on 1 May that would be 13 June.

    CMA’s provisional report

    To be clear the publication today is the CMA’s provisional findings. I have placed a copy in the House Library.

    With regards to the need for a genuine commitment to broadcasting standards – the CMA provisionally finds that the merger is not expected to operate against the public interest.

    On media plurality grounds the CMA provisional finding is that the merger may be against the public interest. It cites concerns that the transaction could reduce the independence of Sky News and would reduce the diversity of viewpoints available to, and consumed by, the public. It also raised concerns that the Murdoch Family Trust would have increased influence over public opinion and the political agenda.

    The CMA has identified three remedy approaches and seeks views from interested parties on them. These remedy approaches are:

    Firstly, to prohibit the transaction.

    Secondly, undertake structural remedies – either to recommend the spin-off of Sky News into a new company, or to recommend the divestiture of Sky News.

    Thirdly, behavioural remedies which could for example include enhanced requirements around the editorial independence of Sky News.

    The CMA also recognises that the proposed acquisition of Fox by Disney could address concerns set out in the provisional findings; however the uncertainty about whether, when, or how, that transaction will complete means the CMA has also set out potential approaches which include introducing remedies which would fall away subject to the Disney / Fox transaction completing.

    The CMA has invited written representations on the provisional report’s findings, and the potential remedy approaches, with 21st Century Fox and Sky – as well as other interested parties – before producing a final report.

    As such, and given the quasi-judicial nature of this process, I hope the House will understand that I cannot comment substantively on the provisional report before us and I must wait for the final report before I comment.

    Debate

    I am, however, aware of the keen interest of the House on this important matter. I know that Right Honourable and Honourable Members will be closely scrutinising the CMA’s provisional findings and will have views on them.

    The CMA’s investigation will continue over the coming weeks – it has set out the process for making representations on the remedy options outlined, and on the provisional findings, with deadlines of 6 February and 13 February, respectively. I feel sure that today’s debate will provide helpful context for that work.

    Next steps

    What I am able to confirm today is that – I will undertake to keep the House fully informed, and follow the right and proper process considering all the evidence carefully when the time comes to make my decision on receipt of the CMA’s final report.

    I commend this statement to the House.

  • Theresa May – 2018 Easter Message

    Below is the text of the speech made by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, on 1 April 2018.

    Easter is the most important time in the Christian calendar.

    A time when we remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and give thanks for the promise of redemption afforded by his resurrection.

    Over the last year, Britain has faced some dark moments, from the terrorist attacks at Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, at Manchester Arena and Finsbury Park, and the fire at Grenfell Tower.

    I know from speaking to the victims and survivors of these terrible events how vital the love and support they have received from their friends, family and neighbours has been to them as they begin to rebuild their lives. In the bravery of those facing adversity, the dedication of our emergency services, and the generosity of local communities, we see the triumph of the human spirit.

    The Easter story contains an inspiring promise of new life and the triumph of hope.

    For Christians around the world facing persecution, the message of the Cross and the resurrection help them to stand firm in their faith.

    Here in Britain, Easter arrives with the coming of spring – a time of rebirth and renewal.

    It is a chance for families to come together, to share a meal, to be outdoors and to enjoy the first stirring of nature after winter.

    However you are spending this Easter, I hope that you have a happy and peaceful time.

  • Michael Fallon – 2013 Speech to Npower Business Conference

    Below is the text of the speech made by Michael Fallon, the then Minister of State for Energy, on 6 June 2013.

    Introduction

    Innovation has always been the key to successful energy policy.

    It has never been as simple as rolling out one proven means of power-generation. On the contrary, we have always endeavoured to find new sources in new places, whether we look at the first generation of nuclear power stations in the 50s, or the opening up of the North Sea in the 60s.

    In the past, innovation has given us access to more – and therefore more secure – energy, and at lower cost.

    Today, it must also mean cleaner energy, so that we can move towards a low carbon economy and a sustainable, secure, affordable energy future.

    I am going to set out what Government is doing to set the framework for an innovative, diverse energy mix and I will talk about some particular technologies at the forefront of energy policy.

    Electricity Market Reform – Outline

    Electricity Market Reform is the framework which will deliver the cleaner energy and reliable supplies that we need, at the lowest possible cost.

    Set out in the Energy Bill, which reached the House of Lords this week, EMR will attract £110 billion investment in this decade alone – the amount needed to replace our ageing energy infrastructure with a diverse and low-carbon mix.

    This is essential to keeping our homes heated, our industries powered and our lights on.

    Renewables, fossil-fuel plant equipped with Carbon Capture and Storage, gas and nuclear will all play their part.

    Diversity will provide security for our electricity supplies and the low carbon mix will help us meet our emissions and renewables targets.

    It’s not only that this will power our economy – the investment will also directly create jobs and growth across the UK.

    Electricity Market Reform – detail

    EMR works with the market and encourages competition, thereby minimising costs to consumers as we attract the investment we need.

    Costs to consumers will fall only when the new plant start generating, with costs spread over the operational lifetime of the schemes.

    At the core of our reforms is a new mechanism, the Feed-in Tariff with Contracts for Difference.

    These long term contracts will provide long-term electricity price stability, and therefore revenue certainty, to developers and investors in technologies such as carbon capture and storage, renewables and nuclear.

    Competition will bring down overall costs and, eventually, provide a level playing field where low-carbon generation can compete without support with other technologies in the electricity market.

    We will also introduce a Capacity Market, to ensure that sufficient reliable capacity is available to meet electricity demand as it increases over the next decade.

    These new mechanisms will be underpinned by a robust and transparent institutional framework which will provide certainty for industry and investors.

    Energy Bill

    The Bill is making good progress through parliament. This is a reflection not only of Coalition consensus around our reforms, but also representative of cross-party agreement on our objectives for the sector.

    Discussion in the Commons has been wide-ranging – covering issues ranging from the setting of a decarbonisation target for 2030 to transparency. This debate is healthy and welcome – it is hugely encouraging that these discussions are around the fine-tune EMR rather than a disagreement with the underlying principles.

    We are on track to achieve Royal Assent of the Energy Bill by the end of this year, setting in law the framework for Electricity Market Reform, and allowing the first Contracts for Difference to be signed in 2014.

    Decarbonisation Target

    The new Government clauses added to the Energy Bill enable the Secretary of State to set a legally binding 2030 decarbonisation target for the electricity sector in 2016.

    These provisions enable the Government to set the world’s first legally binding target range for power sector decarbonisation and they do this in the right way by taking into account the needs of investors for clarity about the long term, the costs to consumers, and the transition of the whole economy to meet our 2050 target.

    A decision to exercise this power will be taken once the Committee on Climate Change has provided advice on the level of the 5th Carbon Budget and when the government has set this budget, which is due to take place in 2016.

    This timing ensures that any target would be set at the same time as the fifth carbon budget, which covers the corresponding period and within the overall framework of the Climate Change Act.

    This means that a target would not be set in isolation but in the context of considering the pathway of the whole economy towards our 2050 target, and making sure we do that in a way that minimises costs both to the economy as a whole and to bill payers.

    North Sea

    Last century, electricity generation was dominated by fossil fuels. Oil and gas will remain central to the UK’s energy mix as we make the transition to a low carbon economy.

    We continue to work closely with industry and we have a fiscal regime that encourages further investment, bringing forward new UK fields while the existing infrastructure is in still place.

    Working together, my two Departments have launched an Oil & Gas Industrial Strategy to maximise recovery, maintain competitiveness, and promote growth of the UK supply chain.

    Shale Gas

    Shale gas is a prime example of a new option available because of technological innovation. A combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have opened the possibility of exploiting fuel which were deemed too difficult or too costly to extract just a few years ago.

    It is true that shale has led to significant price falls in the US. However, we are still at an early stage in the UK and need to explore and prove the potential, safely and while protecting the environment.

    Despite some far-fetched claims in the media about the implications of shale gas for the UK, there is no doubt that it has the potential to add to indigenous energy supplies.

    We are building momentum – by setting up the Office for Unconventional Gas and Oil; taking forward work on a new onshore licensing round; and planning to incentivise shale gas development, as announced in the Budget.

    Carbon Capture and Storage

    Carbon Capture and Storage will have a critical role to play in reducing emissions in the UK and allowing gas and coal to continue to participate in our future low carbon energy mix.

    We want to see CCS deployed at scale in the 2020s, competing on cost with other low carbon technologies.

    To make this happen, Government has created a comprehensive programme, including a CCS competition with £1bn capital funding available.

    Our two Preferred and two Reserve bidders were announced in the Budget. We aim to sign FEED contracts in the summer; with decisions to be taken in early 2015 to construct up to two full projects.

    These projects offer us the opportunity to ensure that both gas and coal generation have a hugely reduced impact on our carbon emissions.

    Renewables

    We are strongly committed to a long-term future for the UK renewables – a commitment underpinned by a publicly-stated annual budget of £7.6bn for low-carbon electricity by 2020.

    However, our ambition extends beyond 2020. Our goal is to put renewables firmly in the energy mix over the period of the 4th carbon budget.

    To take marine energy, we have prioritised funding for the next big step for the industry: the move to the first arrays. Firstly through DECC’s £20m Marine Energy Array Demonstrator – MEAD for short; and secondly through prioritising marine energy projects in accessing EU NER 300 funding.

    As a result, a Scottish Power Renewables’ and a Marine Current Turbines’ projects were recently awarded around 40m € in total of NER 300 funding. This represents a tremendous opportunity for these two UK projects to demonstrate the sector’s future potential.

    New Nuclear

    The UK has everything to gain from becoming the number one destination to invest in new nuclear.

    We are in negotiations with NNB Genco about the potential terms of an Investment Contract (an early form of CfD) that might enable a decision on their Hinkley Point C project – for which planning consent has been granted.

    The last quarter of 2012 also saw the successful sale of Horizon Nuclear Power to Hitachi, regulatory approval of the EPR reactor design, and the beginning of site characterisation work at Moorside.

    Direct Innovation

    The government also invests directly into a variety of smaller projects across a broad portfolio of innovative technologies – in excess of £800m in this spending review.

    This will ultimately drive down the costs of new low-carbon technologies, making clean energy cheaper for householders and businesses.

    Business Consumers

    I know higher energy bills are hitting businesses hard.

    Competition is key to keeping prices as low as possible. Although there is more competition in the business supply market than in the domestic market, we need to see greater engagement from small business consumers.

    Ofgem’s non domestic retail market review proposals will provide greater protection and clearer information to small business customers to help them engage in the market.

    Ofgem plan to introduce new enforceable standards of conduct will mean suppliers will have to act promptly to put things right when they have made a mistake.

    And they will widen existing licence conditions to enable up to 160,000 extra smaller businesses to benefit from clearer contract information on their bills.

    Energy Intensive Industries are also critical to the UK economy and the Government is committed to ensuring that they remain competitive. We announced the £250 million package of compensation for these industries whose international competitiveness are most at risk from indirect costs of the Carbon Price Floor and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.

    Conclusion / Energy Efficiency

    So, Government is legislating to put in place a framework which will see our energy supply diversified to meet our energy goals: secure, low-carbon, affordable.

    And work is underway across the board to facilitate the development or deployment of promising power generation technologies.

    One final area of innovation which may be of particular interest to businesses is energy efficiency.

    The Coalition Government has a mission to seize this opportunity. The Energy Efficiency Strategy sets out actions to exploit untapped, cost-effective potential.

    We estimate that we could be saving the equivalent to 22 power stations in 2020.

    And we have also brought forward amendments to the Energy Bill so that a financial incentive to encourage permanent reductions in electricity demand can be delivered through the Capacity Market.

    The Electricity Demand Reduction incentive would be available to a range of sectors and technologies and could target reductions at peak demand and so incentivise reduction at times when it is more valuable.

    As you will appreciate, doing more with less makes economic sense for businesses and for the country.

  • Michael Fallon – 2013 Speech to the Renewable UK Offshore Wind Conference

    Below is the text of the speech made by Michael Fallon, the then Minister of State for Energy, on 12 June 2013.

    Introduction

    Good morning.

    I’m very pleased to be here today speaking at this important event.

    This is my first speech to RenewableUK since I was asked by the Prime Minister to take on my energy role within DECC, whilst still retaining my responsibilities as Business Minister with the Department for Business Innovation & Skills.

    This is a wide portfolio but it makes perfect sense. I believe that my role offers the opportunity to ensure that two of Government’s top priorities are taken forward in a co-ordinated manner. DECC has the vital task of ensuring that we have clean and affordable energy and tackle climate change, whilst BIS are responsible for helping to deliver our growth agenda. In offshore wind there are large synergies between these areas which I’ll mention later.

    I haven’t come into my energy role totally cold as I have a personal history with the subject. Between 1987 and 1988 I was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy. A lot has changed since then particularly in relation to renewables, the realisation of focus on climate change, and changes in our energy self sufficiency as production of our oil and gas has declined.

    Offshore Wind – a UK Success Story

    Back in 1988 there was not an offshore wind industry anywhere. Now I’m speaking to you when the UK has more installed offshore wind than everyone else in the world put together.

    UK leads the world.

    The UK leads the world in offshore wind. This is a major success story and one we should all be proud of. One that you have helped contribute to.

    Not only do we have more installed offshore wind we also have the largest wind farms and a real knowledge base about how to build offshore windfarms.

    This year we have passed the 3GW mark for fully installed capacity. London Array, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, has become fully operational, Lincs and Teesside are nearing completion, Gwynt y Mor and West of Duddon Sands are installing at sea.

    These are signs of an industry which is driving forward and making a real difference to UK energy.

    So can I now stop there and say everything is obviously working well, exhort you to keep up the good work and leave it at that? Well no, I can’t.

    There are a number of areas where Government and Industry have to work together, constructively, to ensure the sector maximises its potential. I will now spend some time talking about these.

    The Economic Opportunity

    As a Government our priority is ensuring long term economic growth. The economy needs to get going again. And to do this infrastructure is critical.

    The scale of investment needed in energy infrastructure dwarfs that of any other area – including transport, telecoms or water. That’s because of a lack of investment to replace energy generation and energy networks that are now getting to the end of their normal lifetime.

    Between now and 2020, 20 per cent of our energy generation will go offline, some of the coal plants and some of the old nuclear plants are coming off line, so we have got to replace that just to stand still.

    And of course we need to invest in low carbon electricity generation in its many forms.

    Between now and 2020, outside oil and gas; we believe there is £110 billion of investment we need to attract.

    And we know if we are going to do that, to meet that challenge to upgrade the UK’s infrastructure, we have got to make sure that investors want to come to the UK. – This is one of the main reasons for our Electricity Market Reforms, and I am pleased to say the Bill received its 3rd reading in the House of Commons.

    EMR will provide certainty to investors with long-term electricity price stability in low carbon generation. This will be achieved through Contracts for Difference (CfDs) within a framework that will allow us to treble the current levels of support for low carbon technologies to £7.6bn per year by 2020.

    So our driving force is to make sure what we are doing creates a long term, stable, predictable framework backed by political consensus and a new legal framework.

    I am committed to helping investment to come forward in advance of the Contract for Difference regime. That is why the Government launched the Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewables project in March. Further details on the second phase of the process will be published shortly.

    This will bring certainty to this transition period and will give investors the confidence to invest. And if they have the confidence to invest, the supply chain will have the confidence, in turn, to make investments and expand.

    Increasing UK benefit

    It’s not just about investment in generating capacity, we are determined to turn that investment into UK jobs.

    In offshore wind, whilst there have been notable successes across the UK, I think we all agree that we need to deliver greater growth and opportunities for the UK-based supply chain.. UK content levels are low and we must do more. Consumers support offshore wind through their bills and expect there should be economic benefit in terms of UK jobs and value.

    I share that expectation.

    I can assure you this is of vital importance to the Government. The opportunity for growth and jobs is the reason why offshore wind is one of the sectors in which Government is developing a long term partnership with industry, through the Industrial Strategy programme launched last September.

    The forthcoming Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, which will be published later this summer alongside the EMR draft delivery plan which will set out draft strike prices, will set out how we will work together to deliver this growth, increasing investment in the UK supply chain and building a competitive advantage.

    I passionately believe that UK industry can compete on price and on quality. Through the Industrial Strategy, we will deliver a coherent programme to enable UK industry to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.

    Many of you here today have been involved in developing the proposals for action in the industrial strategy and I thank you for this.

    We are not waiting until the strategy is published to deliver these actions. Tomorrow’s programme includes a Share Fair where a number of developers will present details of their upcoming projects and procurement process – giving greater visibility to supply chains is one of the priorities identified by the industrial strategy partnership. I strongly endorse this initiative and encourage supply chain companies to go to the Share Fair and find out more about the business opportunities available.

    This concept is drawn from the oil and gas sector so this is an example of how we are sharing thinking between sectors through the industrial strategy programme.

    Alongside enabling companies to diversify into the offshore wind market, it is vital to attract inward investment into the UK. Our country is the most attractive in the world for investment in offshore wind. And by attracting investment from the top tier of the supply chain it will open up opportunities for the deeper supply chain.

    Today I can announce that we will be forming an Offshore Wind Investment Organisation to significantly increase the levels of inward investment to the UK. This Investment Organisation will be an industry-led partnership with Government, headed by a senior industry figure and complementing the work of DECC and BIS. It will be measured on tangible results and will focus on the offshore wind supply chain.

    So we are making real progress now to deliver the ideas being developed in the context of the industrial strategy partnership. And we won’t stop after the strategy has been published. The real value will lie in the long term partnership between Government and industry.

    The critical importance of cost reduction

    Efforts to build the UK-based supply chain and increase competition also have the potential to play an important role in helping to reduce costs.

    Offshore wind is currently more expensive than many other forms of electricity generation. This is a statement of fact. Whilst all of us here are well aware of the benefits of offshore wind we simply cannot ignore economic aspects.

    Offshore wind is still a relatively new technology and new forms of energy generation tend to be more expensive and require support to until they become established. The Renewables Obligation, which has served the sector well, and the new Contracts for Difference recognise this.

    But we should never lose sight of the fact that pressure on consumer bills is a real issue. Of course we all know that it has been rising gas prices that have been the main driver of increases to bills and that the costs of wind in an average household bill are relatively small. But it’s imperative that costs of offshore wind fall substantially.

    If I can sum this up frankly, the further costs can fall the greater the potential for more offshore wind to be built.

    So, can cost reduction be achieved?

    The easy answer is that it must. I am very encouraged the Cost Reduction Task Force concluded that costs can be reduced to £100MW/h by 2020 and that the Offshore Wind Programme Board is now actively addressing the recommendations made by the Task Force. I am very pleased to note that RenewableUK are publishing, at this conference, an updated version of the project timelines for future offshore wind farms, a key recommendation from the Task Force This will provide clarity and confidence to the supply chain and help to aid and inform investment decisions.

    Innovation in offshore wind also has the potential to deliver significant cost-reductions.

    I am therefore pleased to announce three innovation projects we are supporting as part of our Offshore Wind Components Technologies Scheme:

    Power Cable Services Limited, based in Kent, have been awarded a £540,000 grant towards their high voltage subsea cable jointing technology project
    Aquasium Technology Ltd with partners Burntisland Fabrications Ltd and TWI have been awarded a grant of £769,600 towards their cost-effective fabrication project

    Wind Technologies Ltd (Cambridge) have been awarded a £728,355 grant to design, manufacture and test an innovative 5MW medium speed drive train concept

    Ultimately our long-term vision is for low-carbon generation to compete fairly on cost, without financial support and delivering the best deal for the consumer. We must be clear on this point – we want the least cost approach to meet our climate change targets and offshore wind have to compete with other technologies.

    Post 2020 role of the sector

    Government also has an important role to listen, and I am well aware of the consistent messages you have given regarding the need to ensure there is a long-term market for offshore wind. This of course is very much linked to cost reduction and our industrial strategy.

    We fully acknowledge that investors take long term decisions and that it doesn’t all stop at 2020. After 2020 we will still need low carbon generation and offshore wind will be an important part of a diverse and secure low carbon energy mix.

    And last week Ed Davey announced that the UK has agreed to support an EU wide binding emission reduction target of 50% by 2030 in the context of a global climate deal and even a unilateral 40% target without a global deal. There is no doubt that we will need significant levels of renewable and other low carbon energy to meet such an ambitious target.

    2030 Renewables target

    I fully understand that many of you would prefer a binding 2030 renewables target. The government takes a different view. We want to maintain flexibility for the UK and other Member States in determining their energy mix.

    This demonstrates that cost reduction, together with growth and jobs in the UK-based supply chain, really is the key to the future of the sector. Deliver significant cost reduction and the potential size of the sector increases dramatically.

    Conclusion

    Offshore wind is already a part of our diverse energy mix and is growing fast. Our future is low carbon and this Government is committed to delivering the right framework to ensure we attract the huge investment needed, and we will soon be setting out our industrial strategy to ensure that we reap the economic benefits.

    I hope, by next year’s conference we can celebrate more supply chain successes and good progress towards cost reduction.

    These challenges – reducing costs and increasing UK benefit – are not easy. I’m confident we can overcome them together.

    Thank you.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2018 Passover Message

    Below is the text of the Passover message issued by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, on 30 March 2018.

    Passover is a time to celebrate a journey from oppression to freedom.

    We remember all our Jewish brothers and sisters, who have battled against discrimination and faced the most horrific acts of violence and mass murder.

    This year marks 75 years since a group of Jewish partisans in Warsaw, on the first night of Passover, discovered that the Nazis intended to destroy their ghetto.

    They decided to stay and fight, holding out against the Nazi war machine for a month.

    We think also about rising levels of anti-Semitism around the world.

    In Poland, the government has passed laws making it illegal to acknowledge Polish complicity in the Holocaust. They have frozen the law that returns property looted by Nazis to Holocaust survivors.

    In France, the neo-fascist National Front is on the rise and just days ago 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mirielle Knoll was brutally stabbed to death in an anti-Semitic attack. In the US too, we see the far-right extremists gathering support for their hateful ideology.

    It is easy to denounce anti-Semitism when you see it in other countries, in other political movements. It is sometimes harder to see it when it is closer to home.

    We in the labour movement will never be complacent about anti-Semitism.

    We all need to do better.

    I am committed to ensuring the Labour Party is a welcoming and secure place for Jewish people.

    And I hope this Passover will mark a move to stronger and closer relations between us and everyone in the Jewish community.

    In the fight against anti-Semitism, I am your ally and I always will be.

  • Theresa May – 2018 Passover Message

    Below is the Passover message issued by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, on 30 March 2018.

    Today marks the beginning of Passover, as Jewish families around the world come together at the seder table to tell the story of their ancestors’ deliverance from slavery.

    Here in the UK, we can all take the opportunity to celebrate the incredible and enduring contribution made by our Jewish community, in every corner of the country and in every walk of life.

    Of course, the Exodus from Egypt did not mark the end of anti-Semitic persecution. For millennia, the descendants of those Moses led to freedom have continued to face hatred, discrimination and violence. It’s a situation that continues to this day, including, I’m sad to say, here in Britain.

    It’s something I have consistently taken action to tackle, both through investing in security to protect our Jewish communities and through education, with the creation of a National Holocaust Memorial to remind us all where hatred can lead if left unchecked.

    The story of Passover teaches us that, while wrong may triumph for a time, the arc of history always bends to the righteous. So, at this special time of year, let us all pledge to stand up and make our voices heard in the face of anti-Semitism.

    After all, as Elie Wiesel said, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

    I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Pesach – chag kasher v’sameach.

  • Boris Johnson – 2018 Passover Message

    Below is the text of the Passover Message issued by Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, on 30 March 2018.

    Passover is a time of coming together, when Jewish communities commemorate the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in ancient Egypt. It is a time to celebrate freedom as a basic human right.

    Pesach Sameach to all Jewish families both in the UK and around the world. I wish them a happy and peaceful holiday.

  • Tony Blair – 2017 Speech at EPP Meeting

    Below is the text of the speech made by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, at an EPP Meeting in Wicklow, Ireland on 12 May 2017.

    There is a consensus, fortunately, within British politics that the consequences of Brexit on the border between the Republic of Ireland and the UK and on the peace process should be minimised as far as possible.

    Such a consensus will be crucial.

    Brexit uniquely impacts both the Republic and Northern Ireland. There has never been a situation where the UK, including Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, had a different status in respect of Europe. We have either both been out or both been in.

    The Common Travel Area has meant ease of going back and forth across the border, vital for work and family connection has been in place for almost 100 years. And the absence of customs controls – both countries being in the Single Market and Customs Union – have meant a huge boost to UK-Irish trade.

    Some disruption is inevitable and indeed is already happening. However, it is essential that we do all we possibly can to preserve arrangements which have served both countries well and which command near universal support.

    A hard border between the countries would be a disaster and I am sure everyone will and must do all they can to avoid it.

    In addition, the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement was formulated on the assumption that both countries were part of the EU. This was not only for economic but also for political reasons, to take account particularly of nationalist aspirations. Some of the language will therefore require amendment because of Brexit. Again, with goodwill, including from our European partners, this should be achievable with the minimum of difficulty.

    If the UK and the Republic were able to agree a way forward on the border, then we would have the best chance of limiting the damage. It is in the interests of us all, including our European partners, for this to happen.”

    The truth is that the sentiments and anxieties which gave rise to the Brexit vote are not and never were limited to the Britain.

    I am delighted that there will be President Macron and not President Le Pen. But the doubling of the far right vote compared to over a decade ago, plus the surge of support for anti-European parties across Europe should make us all think. Back in 2005 I gave a speech to the European Parliament in which I warned specifically that Europe was moving further away from the concerns of its citizens, all the time whilst proclaiming that it was moving closer. This was in the aftermath of the referendums on the Lisbon Treaty in France and the Netherlands.

    Since then, following the global financial crisis and then the Euro zone crisis, this challenge has only deepened.

    The world is changing fast through technology and globalisation. This poses an economic challenge.

    Large scale migration from Africa and the Middle East poses cultural challenges, particularly with the refugee crisis. People see their communities change around them with bewildering speed, they worry about their identity and they’re anxious also over security.

    Now the reality is that none of these challenges are more easily dealt with by nations alone or by a Europe which is weak.

    But it is the obligation of mainstream politics – centre left and centre right – to provide answers otherwise those on the far right and left will successfully ride the anger.

    During the course of the Brexit negotiation Britain will be evaluating its future relationship with Europe; Europe has an opportunity to evaluate its own future.

    The European Commission White paper is a necessary start.

    I remain totally convinced that nations such as ours, coming together as we have done in the European Union, goes with the grain of history. As the new power brokers of the world emerge in the high population countries, particularly China and India, all those comparatively smaller in size will need to form alliances to protect not only interests but values.

    But we need to show that necessary integration does not come at the expense of desired identity, that Europe can deal firmly and expeditiously with the challenges upon it, and that it is both sensitive enough to understand the concerns, cultural and economic, that our people feel so strongly, and capable enough to overcome them.

    An open and honest debate about how Europe reforms can play a positive part in how Britain and Europe approach Brexit. Whatever relationship the future holds for us both – as you know I was and remain a passionate supporter of Britain staying with our European destiny – we have too many mutual interests, too much shared history, too profound a sense of common values for us to do other than strive for success for that relationship.

    So let us keep lines of communication intact. Let us explore together the options as we go forward. Let us – where possible – always choose flexibility over rigidity and solutions which are about the long term flourishing of the people not the short term exploitation of the politics.

    We are only at the beginning. There is a long way to go to, particularly for the negotiations.

  • Tony Blair – 2017 Tribute to Shimon Peres

    Below is the text of the speech made by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, at the Shimon Peres memorial service at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on 17 September 2017.

    We miss him don’t we? I know I do. I miss the sense of anticipation before each meeting; the insights; the wit; the brilliant one liners, even the ones I heard before; the crazy genius of being able to speak English better than the English when it wasn’t even his second language; and of course most of all the wisdom, the supreme ability to take the most complex developments – economic, political, technical – and translate them into words we could understand and visions we could aspire to.

    Because Shimon was such a magnetic personality it is easy to forget that his principal quality was not his way with words but with deeds. He was a man of action, whose wellspring was nonetheless a deep and coherent philosophy.

    The description in his autobiography of his interaction with the French Government to secure the know-how for nuclear power, or the account of the raid on Entebbe, read like passages from a thriller. But through each line, we are aware that nothing he did was without purpose.

    He was determined to defend his fragile young country against the hostility of a region all too willing to find an external enemy to divert attention from internal challenge.

    But for him that was but one step towards the ultimate goal of an Israel secure and at peace with its neighbours in a region of tolerance and justice. His patriotism did not require an enemy; it did not need to conquer. It was not born of a sense of superiority but a sense of hope.

    For Shimon, the State of Israel was never simply a nation, and was more than just the homeland of the Jewish people; it represented an ideal.

    The country he wanted to create was to be a gift to the world. It drew upon the best of the Jewish character developed over the ages, sustained through pogroms, persecution and holocaust, often battered but never subdued. This spirit is the spirit of striving: to make oneself better, to make the world better, to increase the sum of knowledge and understanding; to examine the variegated flotsam of human existence and the contradictions of the human condition and see not a cause for despair but a path to progress.

    This was what animated Shimon Peres.

    He never gave up on peace with the Palestinians or on his belief that peace was best secured by an independent State of Palestine alongside a recognised State of Israel. One of our last conversations was on how to change the plight of the people of Gaza.

    Despite all the frustrations of the peace process, in his last years he could see the Middle East changing and the possibility opening up in the region, with its new leadership, of a future partnership between Arab nations and Israel.

    He grasped completely the extraordinary potential there would be if Israel and the region were working together not simply on security but on economic advance, technological breakthrough and cultural reconciliation.

    His Annual President’s conference brought together figures from round the world to discuss not the past or the present but Tomorrow. This was a man who was born when horse drawn carriages were still in use and lived to see a driverless car.

    He was fascinated by the future, loved science, delighted in innovation and was younger in mind at 90 than most people at 30.

    I once tried to define Shimon in three words. I chose Compassionate, Courageous, and Creative. But I spent a long while asking which virtue came first.

    I settled on his compassion.

    I know he took difficult decisions as all in positions of leadership do. Some of them had painful consequences.

    But in the final analysis, Shimon Peres wanted to do good, strived to do it and by and large did it, motivated by a profound compassion for humanity.

    At the core of that compassion, was a belief in the equality of all human beings across the frontiers of race, nation, colour or creed. He would defend Israel to his dying breath. But he was a citizen of the world also and proud to be one.

    For him, every new possibility technology or science gave us was not to be harnessed for the profit of a few but for the welfare of the many.

    For him the world growing smaller was not a harbinger of fear but an achievement.

    For him if Israel did well, it was a chance for the world to do better.

    The memories of great people who help shape history, like Shimon, do not fade but clarify over time. We see what they stood for when they were alive and what they mean for us who live on today.

    In his best moments, Shimon embodied the success and hope of a nation and in doing so, touched and educated the wider world.

    So yes I miss him. And I thank him and his wonderful family – Tsvia, Yoni and Chemi – and his fabulous colleagues Yona, Nadav, Efrat and Ayelet and all the team – for the magnificent support they gave him.

    But I won’t forget him. For me and for so many others here and round the world, he is and always will be a thought in our minds and an inspiration in our hearts.