Scots have another cause for celebration this Burns Night as new figures reveal gin and beer are following in the footsteps of exporting phenomenon Scotch whisky, announced Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom today.

The celebration of poet Robert Burns is now marked around the world, with Burns suppers enjoyed as far afield as South Korea and the USA. While a wee dram is the traditional drink of choice for Burns Night – with 34 bottles shipped overseas every second – the UK’s gin and ale industries are following suit, with nearly a billion pints of beer and 150 million bottles of gin exported around the world last year.

With two thirds of the UK’s gin produced in Scotland – accounting for more than half the world’s total exports – and a record 22 breweries opening last year – bringing the total number of breweries to over 100 for the first time in more than a century – the demand for traditional Scottish drinks shows no sign of slowing.

Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said:

Scotch whisky is a driving force of the UK food and drink industry, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all our food and drink exports each year. It’s fantastic other businesses are following suit and exporting around the world.

I want to build on the significant global opportunities for our food and drink businesses by giving companies the skills and confidence to start tapping into new international markets.

This Burns Night I would encourage people around the world to celebrate with the very best the Scotland has to offer.

Demand for Scotch whisky, the UK’s biggest food and drink export, continues to rise, with almost 900 million bottles exported between January and September last year – an increase of three per cent on 2015. This success is set to continue, with the Scotch Whisky Association expecting seven new whisky distilleries to open in Scotland this year.

Fuelled by a growing thirst for Scotland’s craft ales, exports of beer were worth £479 million from January to October last year, a 16 per cent rise from the same period in 2015. Exports of gin were worth nearly £400 million between January and October, an 11 per cent increase on 2015, and total gin sales broke the £1 billion mark in 2016.

Julie Hesketh-Laird, acting chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said:

Burns and Scotch whisky are synonymous. The Scottish poet penned his love for our national drink in his verse ‘O thou, my muse! guid auld Scotch’ and around the globe a dram will be raised in his memory.

Scotch exports are worth around £4 billion a year to almost 200 markets. Such demand is driving an unprecedented number of Scotch distilleries being opened. We’re committed to working with Defra to maintain export growth, leading the way for other food and drink products overseas.

Beer, whisky and gin all form a key part of the Government’s plans to boost food and drink exports over the next five years. The recently launched UK Food and Drink International Action Plan aims to forge stronger economic links with key countries around the world, opening up new markets and helping first-time and existing exporters to bring a £2.9 billion boost to the UK economy.

There is a growing thirst for whisky in both the USA and Canada, where Defra is targeting an extra £579 million in exports over the next five years. The Government is also aiming for a £215 million export boost in Mexico and Latin America through growing demand for a wide range of British products including gin.

Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell said:

Whisky is one of Scotland’s greatest success stories and tonight, like many Scots across the world on Burns Night, I’ll be enjoying a wee dram.

Whisky is a vital part of any Burns night celebration – and these statistics show the industry is going from strength to strength. They also show the growing thirst for other fantastic Scottish drinks such as gin and craft beer, which have seen business booming.

Through the Government’s Food is GREAT campaign Defra is working to drive exports and increase global demand for the UK’s top quality food and drink.

The Government recently launched a new online exporting hub, which provides a one-stop site for free advice as well as financial and regulatory support and over 1,300 live exporting opportunities. This includes over 200 current opportunities for food and drink companies in the UK.

Jonathan
Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, commenting on
reports that GPs are drawing up plans to charge patients for evening and
weekend appointments, said:

“The
fairest, most efficient and most equitable way of delivering healthcare is to
ensure it is publicly funded and free at the point of use.

“Reports
that GPs are now considering introducing charging would allow wealthier
patients to jump the queue. It is an intolerable consequence of Government
under-funding of General Practice and the Tories’ wasteful re-organisation of the
NHS.

"This
is yet another stark revelation about the reality of Tory mismanagement of the
NHS. The Prime Minister simply cannot keep blaming everyone other than her own
Government for the scale of this crisis. Hard-working people don’t want an NHS
where they are charged for treatments. Theresa May needs to get a grip and
fast.”

Over 1.5 million payments have been made using pension freedoms, with 162,000 people accessing £1.56 billion flexibly from their pension pots over the last 3 months, according to HMRC figures released today (25 January 2017).

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby, said:

Giving people freedom over what they do with their hard-earned savings, whether it’s buying an annuity or taking a cash lump sum, is the right thing to do. These figures show that people continue to take advantage of the choices on offer: choices ‎only made available since the government’s landmark pension freedoms were introduced in April 2015.

We are working with our partners, including Pension Wise, the regulators and pension firms, so that savers have the support they need to understand the options available to them.

People accessing their pensions are also benefiting from the government’s free and impartial pension’s guidance service, Pension Wise which has had over 3.7 million visits to the website and over 100,000 appointments to date.

The government is committed to making pensions fairer, safer and more accessible for consumers. This includes plans to cap early exit fees, allow earlier access to Pension Wise guidance, and work with industry to build a Pensions Dashboard prototype by April 2017.

Autumn Statement launched a consultation on the government’s proposed approach to crack-down on pensions scams. This included:

• banning pensions cold calling
• giving more powers to firms to block suspicious transfers, preventing people’s lifesavings being transferred into scams without any checks
• making it harder for scammers to open fraudulent pension schemes, through stopping small self-administered schemes setting up using a dormant company as the sponsoring employer

I would like to thank our Swiss counterparts who co-lead this crucial work alongside the UK and the UAE as co-chairs of the GCTF, who believe as we do that this forum has the potential to pave the way for a significant step change in how we as nations, working in partnership, can challenge this evolving global threat.

The next 3 days provide us with an opportunity to improve our understanding of the complex challenges we face. And to drive forward a collective agenda to develop communications and co-governance approaches that tackle the exploitation and manipulation of the open internet by terrorists and violent extremists.

Sadly, we begin 2017 in the same way we began 2016, in the shadow of multiple deadly terrorist incidents. There were literally dozens of attacks inspired or promoted by Daesh throughout the world in 2016.

Over the past year, we have seen new developments of terrorists using social media during attacks to document their actions as they unfolded. Footage that has later been used in instructional videos released officially by Daesh to inspire and incite more violence.

We have seen perpetrators repeatedly updating their social media during attacks and others live broadcasting their actions before, during and after committing these unspeakable acts of violence.

The hatred of terrorists and violent extremists across the world does not differentiate between the market places of Baghdad and Berlin. Yesterday’s deadly vehicle attack in Jerusalem, follows the now tragically familiar pattern we saw in Nice on Bastille Day, at Ohio State in November and in Berlin’s Christmas market in December.

It is clear that the internet and social media platforms have become much more than simply a method to distribute information or to claim responsibility for attacks.

Whether directed, inspired or promoted by Daesh, these attacks, the sources and methods they use are coming part of the modus operandi for terrorists and extremists worldwide; weaponising the platforms and applications we all use in our everyday lives.

And whilst the physical presence of Daesh in Iraq and Syria is diminishing, the ability of Daesh and other extremist groups to inspire and incite followers to commit acts of terror has not.

Consequently, collectively addressing the ‘strategic communications and social media dimension to preventing and countering violent extremism’ remains an urgent and unrelenting challenge.

This Global Counter Terrorism Forum can enable a much needed change in how we combat terrorist use of the internet and how we develop the communications initiatives and internet governance that will deliver results.

But to be successful, we need to be coordinated.

We need new and innovative methods to more quickly identify and remove terrorist and violent extremist content and to deliver more effective strategic communications to counter these deadly narratives in all our countries.

Today we have the right people in the room to bring about this change. We can, and we must, act.

To focus our thinking, let me address a few key points:

• first, the specific nature of the global threat we face and how it is evolving and changing

• second, our collective response and our progress to date

• and third, what further preventative action needs to be taken

The threat

In terms of the threat, before we shape any response we must be sure we understand the threat we face.

I am sure we are all familiar now with the fact that social media platforms, and applications provide the opportunity to radicalise a global audience. An audience who would otherwise never have been reachable.

These platforms also provide the ability to normalise behaviours and attitudes that would be considered unacceptable or inappropriate offline.

These same platforms algorithmically connect like-minded individuals creating an illusion of strength in numbers.

Research by Paul Gill et al (2015) shows that 54% of convicted UK terrorists have used the internet to learn about some aspect of their intended terrorist activity.

This proportion increases to 74% when looking at terrorist actors since 2012. In 61% of cases, there is evidence that individuals had engaged in online activity that was directly related to their ultimate attacks or conviction.

But the threat we face continues to evolve and diversify, and significantly so over the past twelve months.

Let’s be clear, physically Daesh is collapsing in Iraq and Syria.

But as military success draws down, their attention is focused on inspiring and inciting violence through online propaganda.

A powerful new brand is emerging, aiming for relevance in the global virtual space.

This brand is based on the appeal of a virtual borderless presence repeatedly calling on followers to carry out acts of terrorism across the world.

Following the claim by Daesh of responsibility for the atrocious attack on Berlin’s Christmas market, Daesh released a statement on Telegram in Arabic, French and English encouraging their supporters to carry out lone actor attacks in the West and Europe during the Christmas and New Year period, specifically advising supporters to target ‘celebrations, clubs, hospitals, markets and movie theatres’. Tragically, foretelling the Reina nightclub attack in Istanbul on New Year’s Eve. In the same message they encouraged further attacks on consulates and embassies.

We have seen this message before. Earlier this year Daesh published an audio message from its then spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, in which he renewed calls for the group’s supporters to carry out terrorist attacks during Ramadan. At the time, the speech did not precipitate international media scrutiny and even some terrorism analysts regarded it as less persuasive than his previous fatwas.

However, Adnani’s words were linked to more than 400 deaths across the globe during the Islamic holy month.

It was the bloodiest Ramadan this century with attacks in Paris, Orlando, Baghdad, Medina and Dhaka.

This ability to inspire and incite attacks globally, exemplifies the new direction and shift in Daesh’s own brand communications. As the following slides demonstrate

The one on the left is an original version of its Dabiq magazine encouraging its supporters to embrace the new caliphate and build a new state, the second its new magazine Rumiya calls on its followers to carry out acts of terrorism wherever they live and wherever they can.

The second edition of Rumiya reinforced support for lone actor attacks using knives with a full demonstration on a frightened hostage. This modus operandi was used in the heinous murder of the French priest in Normandy and attacks in the Minnesota shopping mall last year.

Daesh’s third edition of Rumiya magazine, again released via Twitter and Telegram, specifically advised it supporters to carry out vehicle-based lone actor attacks targeting high profile events.

It praised the Bastille Day Nice attack and proposed that supporters mimic it with the use of large and heavy vehicles, all too familiar to us now.

Daesh continues to make prolific use of video and film to spread their propaganda online.

As I mentioned, in a recent video, a bound hostage is stabbed to death on camera to demonstrate to viewers the most efficient technique for murdering a civilian with a knife.

This was followed by a scene showing how to build a shrapnel-filled IED in a kitchen. More than 100 links to this video were posted to twenty-nine platforms. Dissemination was organised on Telegram, distributed on Twitter and the video was hosted on YouTube, Archive, Send Vid and Google Drive.

Twenty-four hours after the video’s release, despite best efforts, half of these links were still active.

So, to be clear. Since 2013, Daesh’s approach to online communications has been characterised by constant innovation in attempt to ensure its propaganda reaches the vulnerable people it is designed to influence.

As early as 2014, before the majority of the public were aware of the group’s threat, Daesh were using bots to game Twitter and amplify their messaging.

Today this is complemented by the use of Telegram to coordinate thousands of messages promoting the latest Daesh film within hours of release.

Last year, we saw Daesh use drones to film propaganda, propaganda apps for children, and even attempt to develop their own social network.

And, as the heinous killing of the policeman in Paris has shown us, attackers have already begun to make use of live video streaming technology to promote attacks as they take place.

It is highly likely that the group will continue to expand into new technologies in the year to come, as it attempts to remain relevant whilst its physical presence collapses.

And, in addition to a shift in Daesh’s own brand communications, with devastating consequences, we see a resurgent Al Qaida. Only last week, its leader issued a statement on Telegram and Twitter calling for attacks on the US as a ‘top priority’.

And worldwide, extreme right wing groups are developing their own social media communications capabilities representing a new threat with an alarming rise in incidents of extreme, right-wing motivated violence.

So let’s be clear about the threat today as we begin 2017.

We face an increasingly potent ‘cycle of hate’ across multiple extreme groups and ideologies with dynamic shifts in terrorist communications tactics.

Our response

And so to my second point, as the threat we face on these multiple vectors is delivering influence at a sustained pace and scale, then we must develop and rapidly deliver an ever stronger response at a greater pace and scale.

Research conducted by the UK government shows that the majority of links to Daesh content are shared within 2 hours of first release.

We know this is not a single platform issue.

We know that terrorists use different platforms for different purposes – to first distribute their propaganda as far and wide as possible, then to lure individuals into direct conversations.

And over the last 2 years we have all become acutely aware that no one country, company, organisation or individual can defeat this highly complex and evolving threat alone.

It must be a collective effort.

A new partnership is required where all parties – governments, civil society, industry, the media – work together to tackle terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet.

These durable partnerships, as represented by the GCTF, must generate a whole new scale of effective response.

So in addressing this ‘cycle of hate’ we must build new capacity – both national and international – that is holistic, targeted and dynamic.

The progress

Some progress has already been made.

Last year Australia set up a national capacity to remove terrorist and extremist propaganda and amplify counter narratives.

The Global Coalition Strategic Communications Cell have provided a core co-ordination function which has distributed counter narratives and campaign ideas to coalition members on a weekly basis.

Last year, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Twitter signed the EU Commission’s Code of Conduct, agreeing to take the lead in countering the spread of illegal hate speech online.

Facebook launched the online civil courage initiative in Germany and Google developed and initiated the ‘redirect method’ to deliver a curated counter narrative content response to search queries. YouTube has expanded its ‘trusted flagger’ scheme so problematic videos can be taken down quickly.

And Microsoft have strengthened their terms and conditions with zero tolerance language prohibiting violent extremist propaganda and hate speech and are developing new technologies to scan for terrorist and extremist images.

And Twitter has updated its terms and conditions to prohibit promoting violence against others and shut down 360,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts.

At the EU Internet Forum in December, we saw the announcement of a proposal by industry to build a shared hash database.

This is a welcome and encouraging first step and we need industry to move quickly to implement this shared platform to improve our ability to clear caches of known terrorist content from the internet and to keep that content from being reposted.

But more still needs to be done.

We must understand the influence of terror groups online and deploy the use of strong data analytics to understand how terrorists amplify their messages across all social media platforms and communication apps.

To curtain this viral influence, we need to understand how these messages are amplified and how their deadly influence is generated.

We should all play close attention to work of the GCTF on developing 2 work streams of co-governance and communications to challenge terrorist and violent extremist content online – not just on social media platforms, but also on the traditional news media platforms online.

The recommendation documents, which will be produced by the GCTF laying out the principles of engagement for governments to counter violent extremism and provide GCTF members with an invaluable toolkit, will be a potentially invaluable in our arsenal to respond effectively to terrorist use of the internet and the developing capabilities of more and more extremist groups.

This work will help to develop national capacity to deal with this issue.

In the UK, our response for tackling terrorist and violent extremist use of the internet focuses on two areas of work.

One, working with industry to voluntarily remove terrorist and violent extremist content online through the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, and 2, bringing communication experts and civil society groups together to develop and run targeted and more effective counter campaigns.

But while this is world leading in terms of volume of referrals and speed of takedowns, this is not enough. We need the whole of industry to come together to innovate and automate these processes to tackle terrorist and extremist content online.

Since February 2010, when the CTIRU was first set up, it has secured the removal of over 250,000 pieces of propaganda. Based on this model, the EU Internet Referral Unit, was launched to secure the removal of content in a wider range of languages. To date the unit has secured the removal of over 16,000 pieces of online propaganda.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion. The Global Counter Terrorism Forum can and should pave the way for a step change in how we respond as national governments, industry and as global partners.

We all have a shared interest in ensuring that the internet continues to be a safe, free and open space.

If we can come together and herald an era of shared responsibility we will defeat those that seek to divide us.

Thank you very much.

The expansion, which will see the specialist in financial services technology retain 34 high-value jobs in Wales as well as creating 26 new jobs, is backed by £527,000 business finance from the Welsh Government.

The focus for the investment and expansion will be the continued development of FINKit®, a new comprehensive cloud-based platform launched last year and set up specifically to enable banks and financial services organisations to transform and accelerate the delivery of their digital services to customers.

The new jobs will support the existing FINKit® development team as it continues to design, build, test, and service this new platform. FINKit® delivers bank-grade security and is geared towards helping banks innovate more rapidly and cost-effectively and interact with their customers via smartphone, tablet, PC, digital TV, smartwatch, or any other digital medium. 

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said:

“Fintech is an area of huge growth potential, and attracting investment into this sector is a key focus for both the ICT and financial and professional services sector strategies.

“That Monitise has chosen to reinforce its team in Nantgarw, rather than create these new jobs in London or its other locations, is evidence of the expertise and experience to be found in the growing fintech ecosystem in Wales.”

Will Jones, MD Europe at Monitise Group, said: “There is an impressive pool of technology talent in Wales, and in particular in the Cardiff area. We are pleased to be able to support the continued growth of the industry here as we expand the team of pioneers working on FINKit to empower banks to provide better, more innovative products and services for their customers.”