My Lord Mayor Elect, I am commanded by Her Majesty The Queen to convey Her Majesty’s express approval of the choice of the citizens of London in electing you to be Lord Mayor for the coming year.

I am delighted to welcome you, your family and other distinguished guests to formally convey this message.

I’d like to thank the Recorder of London for his address and his outstanding contribution to our justice system. It is equally an honour for me to be the last Lord Chancellor to whom you will present a Lord Mayor before you take up your appointment as a High Court Judge. A much-deserved appointment in an already distinguished judicial career.

And I’d also like to take this opportunity to recognise the outgoing Lord Mayor who has helped to shape the City of tomorrow today. Thank you to him for his commitment and dedication to the City of London.

Lord Mayor Elect, with over 30 years in finance, you bring with you a wealth of expertise and experience, from both here in London but also in New York and Hong Kong. You have had a distinguished career in finance, but also in supporting culture and community causes.

I welcome the theme of your year in office – ‘Global UK: trade, innovation, culture’. These are not separate goals, they are intertwined. They are the City’s – London’s and indeed this country’s biggest strengths. It’s this combination that make London an attractive place to not just ‘do business’, but to live and work.

I know you believe passionately in the role this country has on the world stage and the potential that exists to grow and deepen the stature and status of this.

Whilst I won’t go into details of trade today – I will say that I share your commitment to it, and look forward to working closely with you in my role as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice to progress our many mutual shared goals.

I, like you, believe we are at our best when we are international and we should consolidate our position as a leader in Fintech and LawTech and lead the way on other areas of innovation like cybersecurity and green finance.

Innovation and trade are just one part of the overall package. Another is culture.

As an Alderman, your ward included the London Stock Exchange – that great and historic trading place. But as well as creating the mechanisms and environment for trade and commerce, London, with the City at its heart, has created a space for the exchange of culture as well as capital that has helped to make it the greatest city on Earth.

When you ask someone to think of the City, they don’t always think about the arts. But the fact is, it is home to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of London. It is also the fourth largest funder of arts in the UK.

I know you personally have a passion for theatre and culture – and that acting is something very much in the family (his half-brother is Damian Lewis).

I sadly can’t lay claim to such illustrious connections but, being Welsh, I am proud of my home nation’s reliable production and pedigree of actors and performers.

I am also known, on occasion, to a performance or two myself. In my current role, that is often performing in State ceremonies in front of The Queen. A nerve-wracking and humbling experience. A more cathartic performance, at least for me, is a rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ to my constituents. I literally want to be music to their ears.

My Lord Mayor Elect, I know that by working together, and through your passion and determination in promoting trade, innovation and culture, over the course of your year in office you will further cement the City’s standing and position on the world stage. In turn, it will showcase what this country is about – attracting the brightest and the best to a vibrant, exciting and creative place to live and work.

Introduction

All politicians love to hear applause ahead of a speech, let alone at the end of one, so thank you for the warm welcome.

It is a pleasure to be with you, and very good of you to arrange an event on a Monday morning so close to my constituency in Tamworth. Though this Saturday happened to be a weekend I was in the Commons.

It is fitting to host BIPA here. As you may know, this region actually has a large Irish community of its own. Warwickshire has the most Gaelic Games Clubs in England, outside of London, though I am sorry to say we haven’t beaten a club from Ireland at hurling since 2017. Having read up on that matter I am surprised we have beaten a club from Ireland at all.

May I first of all thank Co-Chairs Andrew Rosindell and Sean Crowe. Coming from quite different political traditions, I know they share a genuine commitment to strengthen links and mutual understanding, to explore solutions to shared challenges and to promote friendly relations, among the BIPA membership and beyond. They both deserve our appreciation for their tireless efforts. Thank you very much gentlemen.

BIPA and bilateral relations

It is my first time at this Assembly, but I already know how incredibly valuable it is to maintaining and enhancing relationships across our islands. I know that it is a body based on respect, dialogue, trust, friendship and a little patience. Patience especially if you are a government MP working with the Whips Office, a three line whip for Conservative MPs and a one line whip for Labour.

We have valued BIPA’s huge contribution to those bonds of friendship for the 30 years since its foundation, and I am confident that, together, we will continue to deepen and strengthen them after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

Bilateral diplomacy is about strong personal relationships in service of two countries’ mutual interests. The Assembly is the embodiment of that. If I can quote W B Yeats, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t met.” We may sometimes be rivals in sport, but our nations are bonded by history and family, culture and commerce. We are diverse, but our bonds run deep. Very deep.

EU Exit

All friendships go through testing times, and Brexit has certainly been one such test for the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has dominated the political landscape over the last three years. It has occupied several miles of column inches and sent the Twittersphere into the stratosphere.

You will have already seen the events at the weekend. All I will say now therefore is the United Kingdom is committed to the Belfast Agreement, the Common Travel Area, an open border, and the institutions of North-South Cooperation. Above all, we are committed to a close bilateral relationship with Ireland in the future, well beyond Brexit.

My great-grandmother was a Marney from Ireland. I am not sure that qualifies me to play for Ireland, or that Ireland would want me. But it is important for me to continue this family connection with Ireland.

We want a vibrant relationship that champions our mutual interests, grapples with shared challenges and seizes economic opportunities. Much of that collaboration is of course already happening.

Links and opportunities

Our people-to-people links are strong. Recent visits to Ireland by members of the Royal Family have been overwhelmingly well received. The British Council is promoting cultural and educational links – including British music at the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork- and our Embassy in Dublin is making connections between young people on either side of the Irish Sea. These links between the next generation which will help to safeguard the future of our relationship, and that’s why we would like to do even more to engage diaspora groups.

Climate, energy and the environment is another area where we must work together. I understand that this was the focus of the last BIPA plenary and I note the motion that has been tabled for discussion tomorrow. The Foreign Secretary’s Special Envoy for Climate Change visited Ireland in July and I know that our Embassy is keen to step up work on this, not least as we prepare to host COP26 in Glasgow next year, in partnership with Italy. There is some question about where the weather is better in Glasgow or Italy. I am sure we will find out in due course.

Our collaboration in bioscience, engineering and physical sciences is also strong. We have a Science Foundation Ireland and Wellcome Trust partnership, joint university appointments and Centres for Doctoral Training. There is plenty of scope for collaboration in artificial intelligence too, as well as fintech, medtech and proptech.

Civic development

Our Embassy in Dublin is also working hard to link up the south west of Ireland with similar areas in the United Kingdom – such as the Northern Powerhouse, and the Midland Engine region that we are standing in today. And it was nice to see Brian and David speak earlier. Their ‘Joining the Dots Campaign’ is making valuable connections and promoting inclusive growth. There are strong relationships with cities such as Birmingham and mayors such as Andy Street will be important too.

Our cooperation in other areas is also moving forward. There are excellent operational links between the Police Service Northern Ireland and the Garda. And earlier this year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office hosted the first ever joint diplomatic training programme for British and Irish diplomats. The plan is for the programme to be reciprocated in Dublin next year. We also plan a joint visit by our Permanent Secretaries to Africa.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples where our cooperation is benefitting both our countries. They show that the British-Irish relationship and the work of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly really matter. I am confident that, with your continued help and support, that relationship will continue to flourish in the future.

You will note that William Shakespeare is one of the West Midlands’ most famous sons, who wrote: “Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.” I know as that great Ambassador for British-Irish relations, Feargal Sharkey once sang something very similar. But not in this room today. I don’t think friends will be hard to find, as Yeats said you just have to find them. I am very grateful to be here amongst friends. Thank you.

Innovative solutions that could be used to predict future threats such as terrorist attacks, detect and counter fake news, or identify vulnerable people on social media will be showcased at an event hosted by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).

Nearly 30 organisations who received a share of £2.4m in funding to develop ideas and technology that observe and understand human behaviour will exhibit their innovations at DASA’s Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 Showcase on Thursday 7 November 2019 at STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon.

DASA is inviting representatives from industry and academia interested in bidding into Behavioural Analytics Phase 2 – to be launched later this year – to attend the event.

There will be the opportunity to speak to suppliers about the work conducted during Phase 1 of the competition and to see how their innovations are taking shape.

DASA delivery manager, Rachael Colling, said: “The Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 Showcase will be a great opportunity to learn about how suppliers developed their ideas and to explore how organisations can work together and bid for funding in the second phase of the competition. We are particularly interested in those who have complementary programmes of work attending this event.”

Behavioural Analytics Phase 1 launched in October 2018. The aim of the competition is to look for scientific and technological solutions that could provide context-specific insights into the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of individual, group and population behaviour, enabling predictions about how they are likely to act in the future. The scope of phase one was theoretical development, methodological advancement and proof of concept research.

Louisa Bryson, competition technical lead, said: “The increasingly complex operational environment and the changing character of conflict will require an enhanced understanding of human behaviour to deliver strategic and operational effects. Using the DASA contractual processes this competition enables UK defence and security to exploit the best ideas, products and services and fast-track them to operational use whilst simultaneously developing external capability in the industry and academic supply chain.”

The competition received a high level of interest from suppliers and a total of 29 projects were funded. A list of funded proposals can be seen here. The full competition document can be found here. The competition is one of several complementary research activities that support the development of a behavioural analytic capability fit for the future UK defence and security operating environment.

Phase 2 will be launched towards the end of the year and will look to draw on the progress made in developing a behavioural analytics capability and how we can move methodological advancements and proof of concept research to the next level.

To attend this event, please register on the Eventbrite Page. Please note that places for this event are limited.

Biography

Graeme first joined the MHRA in 2011 and has spent much of his time at the MHRA negotiating, and now implementing, a package of measures to strengthen the regulation of medical devices.

Graeme has been a civil servant for 15 years and spent his early career working on healthcare policy. He has previously held Deputy Director roles at the Department of Health and spent 18 months as Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health.

He has a Master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

Role

The Director of Devices leads the division in the Agency that is responsible for the operation of the regulatory framework that ensures the safety and performance of medical devices on the UK market. This includes:

• investigating reports of problems involving medical devices and taking action in response to these, such as advising healthcare professionals on the safe use of devices, working with manufacturers to improve device safety and, where needed, taking enforcement action
• reviewing proposals to undertake clinical investigations using medical devices on patients in the UK
• overseeing the UK notified bodies for medical devices, which are responsible for the pre-market assessment of higher-risk products
• ensuring the smooth operation of the regulatory framework, including the provision of regulatory advice

Published 21 October 2019

In September:

• HM Land Registry completed more than 1,709,120 applications to change or query the Land Register
• the South East topped the table of regional applications with 387,778

HM Land Registry completed 1,709,126 applications in September compared with 1,706,827 in August and 1,648,666 last September, of which:

• 331,200 were applications for register updates compared with 339,5839 in August
• 878,321 were applications for an official copy of a register compared with 885,154 in August
• 226,243 were search and hold queries (official searches) compared with 215,336 in August
• 19,042 were postal applications from non-account holders compared with 18,284 in August

Applications by region and country

Region/country	July applications	August applications	September applications
South East	437,867	395,716	387,778
Greater London	349,605	316,939	318,300
North West	220,424	196,381	194,171
South West	182,925	164,696	162,681
West Midlands	169,363	146,051	153,930
Yorkshire and the Humber	147,593	133,111	135,492
East Midlands	134,194	122,250	123,391
North	88,654	80,077	80,659
East Anglia	78,143	70,919	69,850
Isles of Scilly	62	47	39
Wales	89,375	80,560	82,754
England and Wales (not assigned)	78	80	81
Total	1,898,283	1,706,827	1,709,126

Top 5 local authority areas

Top 5 Local authority areas	July applications	Top 5 Local authority areas	August applications	Top 5 Local authority areas	September applications
Birmingham	28,964	Birmingham	25,837	Birmingham	26,240
City of Westminster	24,100	City of Westminster	23,128	City of	Westminster	21,591
Leeds	22,097	Leeds	20,480	Leeds	20,085
Manchester	19,642	Cornwall	17,431	Cornwall	17,127
Cornwall	19,010	Manchester	17,090	Manchester	16,350

Top 5 customers

Top 5 Customers	July applications	Top 5 customers	August applications	Top 5 customers	September applications
Infotrack Limited	59,675	Enact	50,273	Infotrack Limited	54,412
Enact	53,372	Infotrack Limited	48,655	Enact	51,421
O’Neill Patient	26,849	O’Neill Patient	26,159	TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	28,869
Optima Legal Services	24,422	TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	21,361	O’Neill Patient	27,339
TM Group (UK) Ltd (Search Choice)	21,309	Optima Legal Services	21,253	Optima Legal Services	21,524

Access the full dataset on data.gov.uk

Next publication

Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The October data will be published at 11am on Thursday 21 November 2019.

Published 21 October 2019