Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will urge Wales’ best businesses and cultural organisations to seize the opportunities to promote Wales on a global stage during the Wales Week in London initiative, which launches today (24 February).

Wales Week in London aims to promote Welsh interests in London via a series of activities and events from 24 February to 10 March, from a number of sectors and locations in the UK’s capital.

During the fortnight, the Welsh Secretary will urge Welsh businesses to take their products and services to the world market at the Department for International Trade and Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Celebrating Welsh Trade event.

The Secretary of State will also host a reception at Gwydyr House to celebrate the strength and diversity of Welsh culture, and recognise the contribution the arts industry makes towards Wales’ growing tourism industry in a speech at a National Museum Wales pop up event.

UK Government Minister Stuart Andrew will chair a meeting with tourism industry experts to discuss how the UK Government can further support the burgeoning market in Wales.

As part of the celebrations, the Welsh Secretary will also attend a St David’s Day reception at No10 Downing Street for leading Welsh figures from the worlds of business, media, tourism and sport.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

Wales Week in London is an excellent opportunity for Welsh businesses and organisations to make their mark on a global stage. We have some of the strongest industries in the world in the fields of aerospace, agriculture and the food and drink market.

This is the second year running where we have united all St David’s Day related events in London under one umbrella title, which shows the strength of our country’s brand to the wider world.

This campaign ties in with the ambitions of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy in facilitating greater trade and investment opportunities between Wales, the United Kingdom and the world. It’s my job to champion those Welsh interests, and I look forward to playing my part in representing the Welsh brand and its culture throughout the week.

Wales Week in London was formed by Dan Langford and Mike Jordan, two Wales-based business people with strong business ties to London.

Dan Langford, Chair of Wales Week in London said:

We have a terrific programme of events this year – over 70 different activities and events covering all aspects of Welsh life and business; celebrating and promoting Wales whilst commemorating St David’s Day across London.

The support from the UK Government, led through the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales and importantly, also involving a number of other government departments has been tremendous; and together with the Welsh Government, we’re working collaboratively with a shared ambition to promote a modern Wales to the rest of the world.

Huge thanks also goes to those people and organisations, drawn from the Welsh diaspora in London as well as from Wales, who are leading on many of the events taking place. Together we’ll be making a huge amount of Welsh noise in the heart of one of the most important capitals in the world.

Through a calendar of events for two weeks centred around St David’s Day, the festival will showcase activities of existing London-based Welsh communities and promote the best of Wales in London, helping organisations in all sectors to promote their products and services while broadening their networks and audiences.

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Michael Aron has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Yemen in succession to Simon Shercliff, who has been appointed Director of National Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Mr Aron will take up his appointment in February 2018.

Commenting on the appointment, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

The UK is working tirelessly to support the people of Yemen through these difficult times in their history. We are clear that a political solution to the conflict and an end to the humanitarian suffering is the only way forward if we are to see the stable and prosperous future that the people of Yemen deserve.

Michael has extensive experience serving the UK as ambassador, most recently to Sudan and Libya. I look forward to working together with him to help establish a peaceful and stable future for Yemen.

Mr Aron said:

I am honoured to be the new British Ambassador to Yemen. The UK is leading international efforts to address the humanitarian crisis and support UN efforts to achieve political solution to the conflict. I look forward to working with Yemenis, regional and international partners and all parties to the conflict, in support of a peaceful, stable and secure Yemen

Michael Aron – CV

2015 – 2018	Sudan, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
2012 – 2015	Tripoli, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
2011 – 2012	Baghdad, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
2010 – 2011	FCO, Head of Middle East Department
2008 – 2009	Kuwait, Her Majesty’s Ambassador
2006 – 2008	Brussels, EU Director and Head of Scottish Government EU Office
2002 – 2006	UKRep Brussels, Political Counsellor
1999 – 2002	Amman, Deputy Head of Mission
1997 – 1999	FCO, Head of Comprehensive Spending Review Team and then Head of Management Consultancy Services
1996 – 1997	FCO, Deputy Head of Middle East Department
1993 – 1996	UK Mission New York, First Secretary Middle East and Cyprus
1991 – 1993	FCO, Desk Officer, Middle East Peace Process, Near East and North Africa Department
1988 – 1991	Brasilia, First Secretary Commercial and Economic
1986 – 1988	FCO, Desk Officer European Community Department
1986	Secondment to European Commission
1985	UK Mission New York, Conference Support Officer 1985 General Assembly
1984 – 1985	FCO, Assistant Desk Officer for Iran, Middle East Department

Published 23 February 2018

Now in its third year, the annual event brings together experts from across the globe to share ideas and opportunities to work together to tackle the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.

Flood & Coast takes place at the Telford International Centre from 20-22 March and registration is live on the event’s website: www.floodandcoast.com

Other topics including infrastructure resilience, partnership working, community collaboration and incident response will also be debated at the 3 day event.

Speakers this year include the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan, the Chief Executive of the Met Office, Rob Varley, and Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change.

Other speakers include Jeff Lindner, a Director and meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District in Houston, Texas, who will share his experiences from Hurricane Harvey last August. Clare Dinnis, Deputy Director of the Environment Agency, said:

Climate change is one of the biggest global threats we face. Intense storms are becoming more frequent and climate change will also raise sea levels. So this year we’re focussing on how partnerships between attendees can help us be better prepared to respond to future challenges like climate change.

Experts from the UK and across the globe will discuss their experiences so we can learn from each other and improve how we manage flood risk and coastal erosion in the UK.

Paul Cobbing, Chief Executive of the National Flood Forum charity, said:

The Flood & Coast Conference is a great chance to network – bringing together a rich concentration of flooding and coastal erosion experts with a diverse mix of backgrounds – commercial companies, product manufacturers, public organisations, community representatives and academics.

Bringing these people together in a shared space provides a fantastic opportunity to explore how we can work together to reduce flood risk and manage coastal erosion more effectively in the UK.

More than 200 speakers will talk at the event, and 80 exhibitors will showcase the latest in flood risk management technology and innovation.

The full conference programme is now available on the website: www.floodandcoast.com

Notes to editors

• Delegates include representatives from the Environment Agency, local authorities, risk management authorities, water companies, research academics, businesses, manufacturers and communities at risk of flooding.
• The winners of this year’s Environment Agency Project Excellence Awards will be announced during the conference. The awards celebrate best practice in project areas such as programme and project delivery, partnership working, asset management, innovation, value for money, sustainability and community leadership.
• Flood & Coast’s association partners include the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the National Flood Forum, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and the Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA).
• Flood & Coast is kindly sponsored by Van Oord, Black & Veatch, Jacobs, Flood Modeller, AECOM and VolkerStevin, Boskalis Westminster and Atkins (VBA).

Thank you Mr President, and thank you also to Under Secretary General Lowcock for your very detailed and clear briefing today. It was very powerful to hear through you the voices of the people of Eastern Ghouta.

Mr President,

Russia called this meeting today to allow us to present our understanding of the situation on the ground and to come up with ways of getting out of this situation. Well, we’ve heard very clearly from Under Secretary General Lowcock today and from the Secretary General yesterday about the situation on the ground.

This is hell on earth.

The scale of the human suffering and destruction is unbearable.

The suffering of the Syrian people, while primarily the responsibility of the Syrian regime, brings shame on all of us in this Council.

Let us be very clear about the main cause of this hell on earth. It’s the direct result of an escalation by the Syrian regime of its aerial bombardment of civilian areas using cluster bombs, alleged chemical weapons use and systematically killing hundreds of its own civilians.

As others in this chamber have said today, these are breaches of international humanitarian law and are war crimes.

The UK will be unrelenting in our campaign to ensure accountability and justice for these crimes using all mechanisms at our disposal.

Mr President,

We owe it to the people of Eastern Ghouta to highlight the utter devastation facing them and then to take measures to stop it.

According to the Syrian American Medical Society, in the first 48 hours of this week, 250 civilians have been killed and 460 injured. Those that survived these attacks have been further targeted by the regime whilst trying to get help for their injuries. There have been 22 separate attacks on 20 different hospitals in the three days since Monday. We applaud the incredible work of the brave doctors on the ground who risk their own lives to save others. And like the Netherlands, we salute the heroes of the White Helmets who have demonstrated incredible bravery, courage and resilience to save the lives of thousands of Syrians from all sides of this conflict.

From the start of this conflict the Assad regime has peddled the myth that all of those opposing Assad are terrorists. This is manifestly not the case. The people of Eastern Ghouta are not terrorists. Jabhat al-Nusra have only a small presence in Eastern Ghouta; their fighters numbering less than a quarter of one percent of the population of that area. Nothing can justify the barbaric bombardment we’ve seen in recent days, or the blocking of humanitarian aid, or the denial of medical evacuations.

We also condemn the mortar shelling from Eastern Ghouta of civilian areas of Damascus and attacks against the Russian Embassy in Damascus.

Mr President,

This Council has failed to uphold its responsibilities in Syria. We all know why this is. But we have all agreed that there can be no military solution to the conflict, only a political one. The actions of the Assad regime in recent weeks, the military escalation in an area guaranteed by Russia and Iran as a “de-escalation zone” shows cynical disregard by the regime for every member of this Council and for our resolution. So it is vital that we all send a clear and unified message in response.

The solution to this situation is not difficult. We need to see an immediate cessation of hostilities, including an immediate end to the aerial bombing of Eastern Ghouta. If everyone in this chamber were to commit to this unequivocally today, it could have an impact on the ground. It could save the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children who are being killed as we speak here today in this chamber. We therefore welcome the resolution put forward into blue by you, Mr President, and by Sweden, and we look forward to a vote later today.

To conclude Mr President,

Yesterday, we discussed the principles of the UN Charter which our predecessors drafted in the name of the peoples of the world to help save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. It’s clear we have fallen woefully short of this aim. We have failed the people of Eastern Ghouta. But let us reverse this trend today. Let us adopt your draft resolution and take the concrete actions needed to ease the suffering in this zone of death and destruction.

Thank you.