9th August 2013
As you may have seen Carl Bildt invited William Hague to visit Stockholm for talks later this month, via Twitter today. Between them they have over 400,000 twitter followers and have sent over 8000 tweets. But they also value face-to-face contact, good old-fashioned, as well as high-tech, communication. So it’s excellent the Foreign Secretary’s coming […]
8th August 2013
I blogged on 4 July about the Government’s proposals for Electricity Market Reform. It sounds, and is, quite technical, but it’s also an important part of stimulating new investment in the UK’s energy sector and meeting our climate change targets. Part of the deal to attract investment is to have formal agreements which guarantee the […]
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24th July 2013
Many people hold strong views about the Europe Union based on different perspectives about its role , but perhaps we don’t think enough, in the round, about the impact of EU membership and current EU rules and laws on the UK as a whole. Therefore in July 2012 the UK Government launched the so-called “Balance […]
17th July 2013
Working at the UK mission to the UN in New York often meant late nights. But only once was I in the office until three in the morning. It was the morning after the night before, the night the Security Council had voted, around midnight, to refer the crisis in Darfur to the International Criminal […]
16th July 2013
The 2013 Global Innovation Index lists Sweden and the UK as two of the world’s top three countries for performance in innovation, based on a survey of 84 different measures in 142 countries. The British Olympics team had the motto “better never stops”. Similarly with innovation, I think: it’s when you’re at or near the […]
12th July 2013
On 11 July 1995 Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8000 Bosniak men and boys in what the UN had designated as the “safe area” of Srebrenica. The International Criminal Tribunal on the former Yugoslavia ruled in 2004 that Srebrenica had been an act of genocide. My first job in the Foreign Office was as desk officer for […]
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10th July 2013
The Home Secretary made an announcement to Parliament on 9 July on the UK’s policy towards Justice and Home Affairs in the EU. There’s a lot of law and jargon involved, but I’ll try and keep it as simple as possible! The bottom line is the UK government remains committed to working with EU partners […]
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4th July 2013
It was a delight, as always to be in Visby this week for Almedalen. I spoke at a seminar on the “Swedish super-model” and attended several interesting discussions on Europe, defence policy, Swedish politics and economics. Energy policy and climate change were also themes, as they are for the UK government. Like all EU partners, […]
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5th June 2013
You might assume from the title that this is going to be about mathematical theory or science fiction or indeed sewing. But the “golden thread” in question is our Prime Minister’s description of the link between peace, good governance and open societies and economies as part of new thinking on poverty reduction through wealth creation. […]
4th June 2013
A step towards a safer world was taken in New York on 3 June when the UK, Sweden and 65 other states signed the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). I worked on the ATT during my time heading the political and security team at the UK delegation in New York between 2005 and 2008. I confess […]