I think golfers are unusual

As I was typing the previous blog the US Masters is on BBC and I see that Padraig Harrington has asked the match referee to look to see whether he should be penalised for the wind blowing his ball as he stood by it to prepare to play his shot. Now in what other major sport do we see that? Can you imagine many modern footballers saying "Excuse me Ref but I think you should punish me in this one of the highest profile games of the year for an offence you didn't see" No neither can I. There are of course many decent and honest footballers,sportsmen and women. But the trend is almost entirely the other way. Think how cricket has changed over the years. Most local people don't watch cricket I know but take it from me that so much has changed. Batters rarely accept they are out and stand their ground even when they know they hit the ball and are caught. It's not unknown for fielders to claim catches they know they didn't get to. Look at rugby where gamesmanship is becoming more common. At least in rugby the Ref can penalise teams where the players question their decisions. I might be wrong but rugby of today is played in the spirit that I like to think football might have been played in perhaps the 1920s.
Many readers might think all of this an enormous set of generalisations and may name a cheating golfer(alleged) and teams full of sporting footballers who never try to bend the rules but I doubt it.

Holiday, Alan Clarke and photos

Just back this evening from a great few day break. Managed to catch up with some reading. Almost finished the Alan Clark diaries. I know it has been said before but they are so well written and brutally frank about others and sometimes himself. It also offers an insight into how Mrs Thatcher's government worked. I only met Alan a few times and I never really got to know him. But reading the diaries it is clear was a complex and fascinating multidimensional politician. He was hated and loved and from reading the diaries it is easy to see why. 
I manages to keep away from most news(although with a blackberry it's impossible to cut yourself off for even a few hours). The big news was the resignation of top terror cop Bob Quick for the breach of security as he arrived at number 10 to brief the PM on suspected terror suspects. He did the right thing but I and others need to be more careful about what paperwork we have on show as we enter or leave Downing Street. You can't see it on the TV but every Tuesday before and after cabinet meetings there is a bank of photographers snapping your every expression. In future I won't need to worry about smiling as it wont be my face they will be focussing on - they will be taking pictures of all and any paperwork in my hand.

Barry Ferguson no more

The back page news is on the front pages and it is hardly a surprise. Possibly for the first time I didn't want my kids to look at the back pages of the papers today.
The Scotland Captain is no longer a Scotland player. I don't know exactly what did happen in the team hotel after they returned to Scotland, only those involved really know. But what happened on the Subs bench on Wednesday night was plain for all to see. I know that Barry Ferguson will be hurt today by the images of his V sign being all over the papers. But he knows that being the Scotland captain brings a special responsibility. He is the nation's most senior pro when he puts on the Captain's armband. What may have seemed like a way of "getting back"at the media has back fired dramatically. Rangers have now responded. Walter Smith is a good and principled man and also seems to have done the right thing. If players drink that is a matter for them and their clubs. If the Scotland captain then behaves as Barry did on Wednesday then it's a matter for us all. The SFA and Rangers have done the right(but painful) thing. They probably had no choice.

4am, G20 and Protests

I was up at 4am this morning to meet the Ethiopian Prime Minister off his plane. He is a fascinating man with a real interest in Scotland (although I wish he arrived a wee bit later in the day!). He told me that his interest in Scotland started from his school days in Northern Ethiopia where he was taught by a Scottish couple (Mr and Mrs Black) for Maths and Geography. Anyway a fascinating conversation in his car as we sped in convoy through the early morning London traffic.
This G20 is a crucially important meeting of world leaders. After previous international financial crisis it sometimes took years to get Leaders together to discuss the way ahead. Of course there won't be unanimity about what to do because the economies of the world are so different. But they should be able to agree on important measures including international financial issues and how to do more to support the world's poorest nations. I believe it is essential that this meeting is taking place. It won’t achieve everything we all want but it is certainly important to talk.
As I type this I am looking out of the window onto Whitehall and there are no signs of the expected protesters but I'm certain they will turn up. It is right that they do because there are big issues at stake and it is also right that passions run high. But and it is a big but... the protests have to be peaceful to be listened to. I know that the media will focus on any trouble but I will in principle ignore the argument of any of the organisations who turn to violent protests in London..Demonstrate of course, if you want but do it peacefully.

MP Expenses should Change

There is rightly a lot of focus on MP expenses. The system has been in place for many years but does need to change. MPs from outside London do have to have a second place to live. Most people accept that if you are an MP from Scotland or anywhere a distance from the House of Commons the you need assistance with the cost of accommodation. If you were to abolish this then we would only be able to elect MPs who are wealthy enough to be able to pay from their own pocket the costs of paying for two homes. The debate is how far from the Commons do you have to be before you qualify for the housing allowance and what is it you qualify for.
The news this week is also about MP pay increases. Thought local people would want to know that I have taken a pay freeze on my MP and Secretary of State salary. Most other MPs will get the increase but Ministers have agreed to a 0% increase again this year. This is the right thing to do in light of the economic pressures.
More generally the system has to change. MPs should never be allowed to vote on their own expenses and salary. There should be an independent process for everything. I hope that this is what is now being planned. 

Beijing Speech

Below is a speech I gave on The Global Economy, G20 and the Way Ahead: a view from Scotland and the UK at the Tsinghua University in Beijing

Beijing Speech

It is a real privilege to be here today, with such a distinguished audience, at such a special venue and in this era of renewed Sino-Scottish relations.

This is my first visit to China. The early part of the week was spent in Shanghai and Hong Kong, leading a delegation of businesses, universities and colleges from Scotland. I know that I still have much to learn but I have learnt much about China in a very small time, and I have been enormously impressed by the energy, inventiveness and industry I have seen everywhere. Now more than ever I am convinced that Scotland's future lies in China. I know that to understand fully this great country will take many visits and much study, so I hope that I will have many more opportunities to return.

Now, after the commerce and trade of the south, I feel that I have now arrived at China's beating political heart.

I realise that I am following in famous footsteps, as Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair among others have spoken at this university. Global statesmen, and indeed heroes of mine, who have made a real impact on the world stage. I look forward to a discussion with this distinguished audience and his great university.

Ours is a global age of interconnectedness and interdependence. This has resulted in immense benefits. The last two decades have seen free trade lift hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty - 400 million of them here in China. Increased air travel has allowed more people to visit other countries, to sample and understand other cultures and ways of life. This, I would argue, is making us a more harmonious world - one which is more tolerant of difference and diversity. And the communications revolution has enabled the rapid exchange of ideas and information fuelling innovation.

The vivid truth of our interconnectedness was brought home to me on Wednesday. In Hong Kong I heard that the downturn in trade has led to thousands of containers lying idle. The problem is so severe that owners are rapidly running out of space to store the containers.

And what is at the root of this collapse in trade? The collapse in the subprime market in the United States. And what caused that? Bad loans and mortgage defaults. Who would have imagined that couples failing to pay their mortgage in the Mid-West would bring down Lehman brothers, freeze the banking system and slow down Hong Kong?

The very interconnectedness that transmits information at the speed of light which brings growth so swiftly will transmit a systemic crisis just as quickly.

This is the dark side of global interconnectedness. This afternoon I want to talk about three of the strategic challenges which we face which are produced or magnified by this same globalisation. I want to touch briefly on two of these - global terrorism and climate change - and spend most of my speech on the international economic slowdown - and the response that we need to make at the G20.

Though different in many ways, each of these threats shares the characteristic that they cannot be met by any single nation acting on its own. They need to be addressed by all nations working together.

The speed of digital communications which has been such a boost to our economy and a benefit to individuals, families and businesses has been exploited ruthlessly by extremist terrorists who want to damage our societies. The internet has provided a platform for the views of extremists which are marginalised in mainstream media. And it has provided a means of recruiting, indoctrinating and instructing terrorists. So we have seen an upsurge in global terrorism. One organisation - al-Qaeda - has bombed New York, London, Madrid, Bali, Casablanca, among many other places. And only successful detection and disruption has prevented bombs in many other cities in Europe. Two hundred people have been convicted of terrorist related offences in Britain alone since 2001. Even here in China, you have also been threatened by al-Qaeda. In Britain we have just updated our strategy to counteract terrorism. Put simply, we will pursue terrorists, prevent them from recruiting new members, protect our communities, and prepare to combat new threats as they emerge. But a form of terrorism that organises globally will ultimately only be defeated by global co-operation.

It is both the lesson and the consequence of globalisation that we are in his together and we will only win through together.

Turning briefly to climate change. This is the greatest single strategic long term challenge to our world - because unstopped it will change the very nature of our planet. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, water shortages - each one of these is a face of climate change, each one of these can cause death and devastation on an extraordinary scale.

And it is a savage irony, that to date while Europe and the US have been responsible for most of the Green House Gases and carbon emissions that are causing climate change, the human costs will be first felt - and heaviest - here in Asia. That is why in the UK we are taking responsibility for our own actions. We have put in law the word¿s first ever statutory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by around 2050. We have adopted an energy policy - with new investment in renewable energy and nuclear power - which will reduce emissions. And we are at the heart of global action to tackle climate change - from putting it on the agenda at the G7 meeting in Gleneagles in 200 to playing a leading role in the lead-up to Copenhagen, which we hope will be a landmark in concerted global action. We are proud that China has often called Britain its main partner in tackling climate change. Our government believes that there are huge economic opportunities in the green economy. We want to double the number of people working in climate change green collar jobs. Here in China, there is much opportunity for Scottish and British businesses to join with Chinese companies to build the energy businesses of the future.

A range of collaborative projects are pushing ahead inspired by the Joint Declaration on Climate Change signed in January 2008. These built upon earlier Memoranda of Understanding establishing joint working groups on climate change and energy.

The UK is a willing partner. UK companies are financing almost two-fifths of China's Clean Development Mechanism projects and are promoting the idea of low carbon development zones.

We are cooperating on near zero emissions power generation technology through carbon capture and storage. The UK is also leading joint EU-China work on the building of a near zero emissions coal-fired power station.

One of the most difficult tasks of the coming years will be to stick to the task of tackling climate change. Though we see some consequences today, the full impact is decades away. There is a real danger that focus on tackling the current economic downturn will divert attention from tackling climate change. That must not happen, not least because the green economy itself will be one of the major engines of the recovery of the global economy.

Scotland and China are being buffeted by the global economic hurricane of autumn 2008. We have been affected in different ways but the repercussions have been difficult for us all. I would like to make three points clear:

Firstly, we are experiencing the first international recession induced by a global financial crisis.

Secondly, no one country can solve this crisis by itself. Not the US, nor China. Even President Obama's $800 billion dollar package comes with a health warning. We are watching China's fiscal stimulus, the largest of them all, with great interest, assessing the impact of this huge investment programme and monetary measures designed to boost domestic demand. An intervention to shift the mix of growth from exports to consumption.

But despite these enormous efforts China will find it difficult to keep the economy running at its now accustomed pace of growth if world demand remains depressed.

Thirdly, there is the realisation of just how close to collapse sections of the international banking system came in October last year.

Bubbling away beneath the growth of the last two decades were the poisonous by-products of the markets most unrestrained excesses. So when these toxic time bombs came to the surface last autumn, the global economy shuddered.

Bankers¿ recklessness and irresponsible risk taking resulted in the collapse of long established and much respected institutions. US subprime mortgage debts and the subsequent collapse of Lehmann Brothers triggered not just a global banking crisis but a global loss of confidence.

With the result that during the last six months the world has experienced a level of crisis of credit and confidence, not seen for nearly 80 years. World trade has contracted, exports have dropped, output has fallen and unemployment has spiralled.

In face of global market meltdown governments across the globe have taken action - an illustration of the need for a dramatic departure from the old orthodoxies.

From the outset of the crisis, the UK Government determined that doing nothing was not an option and has acted in the public interest to protect savings and pensions.

But we in the UK are not returning to the interventionist model of the 1970s. We need a strategically agile state. And my message is that we need markets where possible, government only where necessary.

Thus in recent months in Scotland, and in the UK more widely, we have followed a three pronged approach by:

- intervening to stop banks collapsing,
- giving real help now to our families and businesses through fiscal stimulus and bringing forward infrastructure investment to support the economy.
- Taking action to get lending moving again.

We have looked closely at what happened in previous recessions and are learning from the mistakes of the past.

China starts from a strong position. For although forecasts for China's growth have lowered, even the most pessimistic estimates are still talking about 6.5% growth. We must not forget that China is the only one of the Big Five economies to still be growing. In 2009 it remains a bright spot on the gloomy global economic landscape. Even your stock market has grown by one-fifth this year.

The Chinese Government, like the UK Government, has embraced fiscal stimulus. While China's banks have remained unscathed, the global downturn has depressed export markets leading to factory closures and growing unemployment.

But we know that one country cannot solve the global crisis alone. The international community must take the collective action necessary to stabilise the world economy and secure recovery.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his address to the US Congress earlier this month, spoke of "a global economy is in crisis and a planet is imperilled".

Global recession means misery for millions of people across the globe. Bank failures and market faltering signifies real hurt for real people. In this context Gordon Brown stressed that statesmen - the representatives of the people - have to be the people's last line of defence.

The Prime Minister has stressed that we have come to a point where change is essential. We cannot and must not stand aside. We need international solutions and this is dependent on international cooperation.


For we know that in their tackling of this crisis there is the danger that global leaders learn the wrong lessons from history and turn inwards towards regressive protectionism. The economic nationalism of the 1930s only imposed a structural check on economies as they attempted to return to growth. Retaliatory tariffs simply do not work. Protectionism protects no one - because as the thirties showed, when trade barriers rise, recession lengthens into depression.

Open markets powered two decades of prosperity prior to the credit crunch. Developing countries were drawn into the world market thus lifting more people than ever before out of poverty.

So we should all want the Doha world trade deal to be completed as a matter of urgency and ensure no further barriers are erected to hinder free trade in the interim. The UK and China are both great trading nations - open trade is healthy for both of our economies and has helped to drive forward China's economic boom in recent decades.

I am pleased to see that leading Chinese officials have publicly underlined their strong opposition to protectionism and have warned that it could make the financial crisis worse.

That¿s why next week's London Summit of the G20 states provides a vital opportunity for world leaders and international institutions to come together with the twin objectives of

- Firstly, agreeing to immediate action to support the global economy and protect the poorest

- and secondly, reforming the international financial system to prevent future crises.

The UK's proposed Global Deal is a plan to get the global economy back on track - internationally coordinated measures to restore stability and to set a course for sustained and sustainable development. Both the Chinese and UK governments want the London summit to demonstrate that world leaders are working together to stabilise financial markets and revive the world economy.

In today's globally interwoven economy, the necessary fiscal measures to rebuild global demand require coordination. All the G20 countries must play their part, for in the words of the Chinese proverb "Only when all contribute their firewood can they build up a strong fire." So we need a summit for stimulus. Coordinated reflation amounting to more than $1.5 trillion has already been agreed by the G20 countries. Reflation to rebuild demand.

And as well as working with you to counter attempts to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to slide back towards protectionism, we also agree on the need to provide assistance to those least developed states most adversely affected by the crisis.

The UK government is also underlining the need to bolster the governance of international finance. Gordon Brown has stressed that the principles of integrity, responsibility and fairness should govern our economic life just as they govern other aspects of a good society. So, those who lead financial institutions into failure should not be rewarded for failure. At the moment we have a degree of reward for failure that is immoral.

That's why we are seeking agreement on the need for a significant strengthening in the regulation of the international financial sector.

A move away from the light touch regulations which must bear some responsibility for the painful Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 and the financial crisis we are currently enduring.

A move towards right touch regulation which will mean a more responsible and more resilient financial sector with more effective governance.

Markets should be free but not values-free. It really should be that simple and this must be a lasting lesson from the current crisis.

Financial crises in an interwoven global economy can only be addressed by co-ordinated international action. A network of good bilateral relationships alongside multilateral agreements and shared beliefs are vital for triggering this action.

Gordon Brown has underlined the significance of China playing a full part alongside the UK in the effort to restore confidence, growth and jobs and to make real progress in the objective of creating an open, flexible and robust world economy.

We are partners at the top table, such as the UN Security Council and the WTO and we are building a strong and dynamic partnership which allows open dialogue.

That's why on all the big issues that face the world - such as the reduction of poverty, the resolving of conflict, and the construction of an effective framework to tackle climate change - we need China and China needs the rest of the world.

Scotland and the UK are forging ever closer links with China - links that since 2007 have made China the UK's biggest market outside Europe and the United States for goods. Increasing our bilateral trade is in our mutual interests and sends a signal to the wider world on the importance of open trade. British exports to China rose 29% in 2008.

We have a challenging bilateral trade target, set by the Prime Minister and Premier Wen in 2008, of $60 billion in goods and services by 2010. And I have called upon Scotland's trade with China to double in the next decade.

The UK is the largest EU investor in China, while in 2007 the UK became the number one destination within the EU for Chinese outward investment.

Scotland's future lies in China. For we know that since China re-emerged as a world economy in the 1980s it has been the engine of world economic growth. The 21st century workshop of the world. The last 30 years have seen great changes in the economic landscapes of Scotland and China. And our global world will not stand still, nor should we want it to. This trend will continue and we should embrace it. It will continue to evolve at breakneck speed, with the UK and China at the forefront.

Our response to the current global challenges must remain global. Rallying together for recovery and cooperating for our climate. At the G20 and at Copenhagen - making the right decisions for our peoples and our planet.

I am confident that Scotland and China are up for the challenges of the 21st century and know that we can work together in defeating the downturn and ensuring shared future prosperity for our people.

Jim joins Twitter

After accepting Facebook(belatedly) and now having a few hundred contacts and friends I have now gone further and set up a Twitter account. It seems like a good way to keep people up to date in  a really punchy way. Short, sharp and direct message updates about what I am up to and what catched my attention.
I am typing this from behind what is sometimes referred to as "The Great Firewall of China" where internet access to certain sites is limited and censored.
Anyway the idea is that you can register for this once a day perhaps 15 word update. To receive my Secretary of State twitter updates go to the Scotland Office website here

I know that I have advertised this through a blog posting and I wonder how long it will be before someone posts a "Murphy is a twit" blog. Not long I guess but it's something new and I'm always looking for new ways to keep in touch so why not give it a go. If you don't like it I think you can probably unsubscribe!

My speech at Hong Kong Uni

Below is a speech I gave to Hong Kong university yesterday.

25 Mar 2009

I am very excited to be leading the Scottish Council for Development and Industry delegation to the Mainland and Hong Kong this week. SCDI have been visiting China since 1971 - and like them, I certainly intend to return again.

Scotland's business links with Hong Kong go back so many years.

Consider the HSBC brand that is such a familiar sight across the globe. This modern corporation has its roots in The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation founded by a Scot, Thomas Sutherland, in 1865. Sutherland wanted a bank operating on "sound Scottish banking principle". Those principles have stood it in pretty good stead I think.

And of course the multinational corporation Jardine Mathieson Holdings Limited, based in Hong Kong, owes its origins to the 19th century Scottish traders William Jardine and James Matheson.

So Scots have played a very important part in making Hong Kong the thriving business centre it is today. More importantly, we want to be part of Hong Kong's future too.

Scotland and China

Scotland is a relatively small country that for centuries has managed to punch above its weight. And I mean a small country, Hong Kong has a population larger than that of Scotland. Shanghai has a population 4 times the size of my country. Indeed, China today has 14 cities whose population exceeds that of Scotland's population as a country.

But although vastly different in size Scotland and China share some common challenges. We both have experienced significant changes in the shape of our domestic economies during the last three decades, albeit on different scales. We were the second industrial nation anywhere in the world after England, and were a leading manufacturing country well into the early 20th century. In the last thirty years we have become a diversified post-industrial economy where financial services, tourism, education and whisky have replaced coal, iron and steel at the heart of our economy. Over the same time, Hong Kong and the Mainland have gone through changes. China has re-entered world markets with a vengeance. The Chinese economy has been an extraordinary engine for growth. Delivering double digit growth year on year, pulling over 400 million people out of poverty and being responsible for 30% of world growth since the year 2000.

The rich heritage of Scottish learning, literature, science and medicine produced break-throughs which have contributed so much to the world since the dawn of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century.

Scotland's economists, philosophers, writers, poets and scientists have helped shape our global world. From Adam Smith's vision of The Wealth of Nations in 1776 to John Logie Baird's invention of the television in 1925. And much else besides has been brought to the world by Scotland.

The Scotland of the past gave the world the inspiring, heartfelt words of our national poet Robert Burns and the flowing novels of Sir Walter Scott.

The Scotland of the present entertains the world with the witty African detective tales of Alexander McCall Smith and the phenomenal exploits of the boy wizard Harry Potter, the creation of JK Rowling, a fellow Scot.

Scottish sportsmen and women have also cemented the country's reputation overseas. David Coulthard has driven in the China Grand Prix, a welcome addition to the Formula One calendar since 2004, while Andy Murray has competed in the Shanghai Masters tennis.

And Scotland won the World Cup on Chinese soil - the World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills, not too far from here, in 2007.

And here in Hong Kong this week the Scottish Rugby 7s team is taking part in one of Asia's premier sporting events, the Hong Kong 7s. I wish them well.

As well as sporting success, Scotland has enjoyed an economic upturn in recent years. It has been part of a UK economy that enjoyed sixteen years of growth from 1992.

But we have been hit by the global slowdown - and that's the focus of the G20 next week.

The Global Slowdown

Many of us were hit by the global economic hurricane in the autumn of 2008. Bankers' recklessness has led to a global slowdown from Glasgow to Guangzhou.

The unprecedented international downturn which was induced by the global financial crisis has affected China and Scotland in different ways but the repercussions have been difficult for us all. I would like to make three points clear:

Firstly, we are experiencing the first international recession induced by a global financial crisis.

Secondly, no one country can solve this crisis by itself, no matter how big. Not China. Not the US. Even President Obama's $800 billion dollar package comes with a health warning. We are observing China's fiscal stimulus, the largest of all, anywhere across the world, with great interest, assessing the impact of the huge investment programme and monetary measures designed to boost domestic demand. But despite these huge efforts even China will find it difficult to keep the economy running its now accustomed pace of growth if world demand remains depressed.

Thirdly, there is the realisation of just how close to collapse sections of the international banking system came in October last year.

Bubbling away beneath the enormous growth of the last two decades were the poisonous by-products of the market's most unrestrained excesses.&

A minority of international bankers' recklessness and irresponsible risk taking resulted in the collapse of long established and much respected institutions. Scottish banks, built on centuries of experience came within moments of collapse. US subprime mortgage debts and the subsequent collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered not just a global banking crisis but a global loss of confidence.

With the result that during the last six months the world has experienced a level of crisis of credit and confidence, not seen for 80 years. World trade has contracted, exports have dropped, output has fallen and unemployment has spiralled.

In face of international market meltdown governments across the globe have taken action in their own ways&- an illustration of the necessity for a dramatic departure from the old orthodoxies.

From the outset of the crisis, the United Kingdom Government determined that doing nothing was not an option and we have acted in the public interest to protect savings and pensions.

But despite this renewed state intervention we are not returning to the interventionist model of the state from the 1970s. We need a strategically agile state. And my message is that we need markets where possible, government only where necessary.

In that context, in recent months in Scotland, and the United Kingdom more widely, we have followed a three-pronged approach by:

- intervening to stop banks collapsing,

- giving real help now to our families and businesses through fiscal stimulus and bringing forward infrastructure investment to support the economy.

- taking action to get banks to get lending again to businesses and families.

We have looked closely at what happened in previous recessions and we are determined to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.

In China you start from a strong situation. For although forecasts for China's growth have lowered, even the most pessimistic estimates are still talking about 6.5% growth. As the world's third largest economy and the only one of the Big Five to still be growing. In 2009 it remains a bright spot on the gloomy global economic landscape. Even the Mainland's stock market has grown by one-fifth in this most difficult of years.

The Chinese government, like the UK government, has embraced fiscal stimulus. For while China's banks have remained unscathed, the global downturn has depressed export markets leading to factory closures and growing unemployment which further exacerbates the disparity of wealth between countryside and coast.

As one of the world's most open economies and a major financial centre, it is perhaps unsurprising that Hong Kong has not escaped what your Chief Executive Donald Tsang, described as a "financial tsunami;" and the downturn in consumer demand in the US and Europe. And yet I sense that Hong Kongers do not see the current crisis in the same way that Europeans and Americans do. You have of course faced tough challenges since 1997, first the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and then SARS. And you overcame them and have prospered. We all look at this crisis from different perspectives and different experiences.

As I have said we know that one country cannot solve this crisis alone. The international community must take the collective action necessary to stabilise the world economy and secure recovery.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the US Congress earlier this month that the global economy is in crisis and the planet is imperilled. We have come to a point where change is essential. We cannot and must not stand aside.

That's why next week's London Summit of the G20 provides a vital opportunity for world leaders and international institutions to come together with the twin objectives of

- Firstly, agreeing to immediate action to support the global economy and protect the poorest

- and secondly, reforming the international financial system to prevent future crises of this type.

Coordinated reflation amounting to more than $1.5 trillion has already been agreed by these 20 nations. Reflation to rebuild global demand. Next week the world needs a summit for stimulus.

The UK's proposed Global Deal is a plan to get the global economy back on track - internationally coordinated measures to restore stability and to set a course for sustained and environmentally sustainable development. Both the Chinese and UK governments want the London summit to demonstrate that world leaders are working together to stabilise financial markets and revive the world economy.

UK-China relations are very strong indeed, exemplified by the recent highly successful visit to the UK by Premier Wen Jiabao. And we know that on the big issues that face the world - such as the reduction of poverty, the resolving of conflict and the construction of an effective framework to combat climate change - we need China and China needs the rest of the world.

Both governments agree on a strong stance against protectionism. We don¿t want global leaders to learn the wrong lessons of history and turn inwards towards just their own country. We will work with you to oppose any attempts to use the global financial crisis as an excuse to slide back into that world - because the 1930s showed, when trade barriers rise, recession lengthens into depression.

We will trade our way out of this downturn. Let us never forget that it is free trade that has driven the rising levels of global prosperity that has defined the last two decades. Through the growth generated by open trade and global markets more people have been lifted out of poverty, more quickly, than ever before in human history - including an amazing 400 million citizens of China in the last three decades.

And China and the UK agree on the need to provide assistance to those least developed economies and the least developed countries states most adversely affected by the crisis.

Gordon Brown has stressed that the principles of integrity, responsibility and fairness should govern our economic life just as they govern other aspects of a good society.

That is why we need international agreement on the need to significantly strengthen the regulation of the global financial sector.

And we welcome the contribution which Hong Kong is making, through its participation in the G20 process, as part of the China delegation, and its involvement in the Financial Stability Forum. As global financial centres, the interests of the UK and Hong Kong are closely aligned, particularly on trade and global supervision.

Financial crises in an interwoven global economy can only be addressed by co-ordinated international action. A network of good bilateral relationships underpinned by multinational agreements and shared beliefs are vital for triggering this action.

Scotland's Future Prosperity

In this context it's also important to reflect that despite the difficulties we face. Scotland and the UK is forging ever closer business and economic links with China - links that have made China the UK's biggest market outside Europe and the United States for goods. UK exports to the Mainland rose 29% in 2008. UK exports to Hong Kong rose 31% in the same period.

We have a challenging bilateral trade target, set by the Prime Minister and Premier Wen in 2008, of $60 billion in goods and services by 2010

I want to see a Scottish target for increased trade too. Despite the downturn and possible short term dip, over the next decade I believe that Scottish trade with China could - indeed should - double. That would bring new jobs to both our countries, new connections, new friendships.

The UK is the largest EU investor in China, while the UK is the number one destination within the EU for Chinese outward investment. Indeed, over 80% of Hong Kong investment in Europe comes to the UK and Dr Li Ka Shing's Cheung Kong Holdings is the largest single foreign investor in the UK.

Scotland has strong ties with China. Scotland's future prosperity lies in areas where we already have built the foundations of strong links with China and we seek to strengthen these ties this week and in the future. And we need to spot the areas where Scottish and British expertise matches Chinese demand.

That's about human relationships and today I invite you to come to Scotland.

The warmth that I hope will flow from this experience of Scotland, our people, our history, our heritage, will produce the long lasting links, mutually beneficial to the Chinese and Scottish economies and societies. So I am calling today on the rising generation both here in Hong Kong and across China to come to study in Scotland. Come as undergraduates and as post-graduates and play your role in helping to shape twenty-first century Scotland. Scots, as I mentioned earlier, played their part in shaping Hong Kong and the Mainland. A new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs are returning the favour. Scotland is open for business - and for knowledge. Come and see Scotland for yourself.

Financial Services

You will see that Scotland's diverse 21st century economy is much wider than our traditional heavy industry and manufacturing past, our sources of excellence in the First Industrial Revolution two centuries ago.

Despite the downturn, Scotland has a thriving financial services industry covering the fields of banking, insurance and fund management. A world-class infrastructure is already in place.

Fund values may have taken a tumble worldwide but the corporate knowledge is retained. Scotland is the UK's second largest financial hub after London and Edinburgh is the world's 9th biggest centre for fund management. Scotland is a global player.

Some 10% of the Scottish workforce is employed in financial services and half of the world's top 20 financial organisations have substantial operations in Scotland.

Scotland's financial services sector already generates around £7 billion annually and we know that the World Bank estimates that the Chinese middle class will expand by 350 million by 2030. I hope that these newly prosperous businesses and consumers will want to work alongside Scottish financial institutions and purchase Scottish financial products.

Conclusion

Scotland's future lies in here in Hong Kong and the Mainland. For we know that since China re-emerged as a world economy in the 1980s it has been the motor of world economic growth. The last three decades have seen great changes in the economic landscapes, particularly in my home and in yours. And our global world will not stand still, nor should we want it to. It will continue to evolve at breakneck speed, with China at the forefront. For Scotland and China science, and free trade will be the driving forces of recovery.

I am confident that Scotland, China and Hong Kong will be up for the challenges of the 21st century. I know that the financial crisis we are all facing in our towns, our cities and our nations cannot be solved bay anyone of those towns, cities or nations on their own. It will only be solved by all our world leaders working together in a way we have never seen before,

I look forward to seeing the UK government and the Chinese government playing a key role in the G20 next week, working together in defeating the downturn and moving towards shared future prosperity for our people.

Rest in Peace Mrs Arthur

Its 1am in Dubai as I have just arrived on my way to Shangai. Stopping here for a couple of hours.
A friend has just called me to say that Mrs Marsha Arthur has passed away. Many of you will not know Marsha but for those of you who knew Marsha and know David you will know what a lovely couple they were.
I have known Marsha for many years and she was a lady of deep belief and commitment. Her faith in God and her belief in the politics of decency. I visited Marsha yesterday in the Victoria. She was frail but she still had her smile. David and Marsha have been married for 62 years, lived in Newton Mearns and had a lifelong commitment to the Church of Scotland and the Labour Party. Their Church(Mearnskirk) and politics were based around the community of Newton Mearns. They lived their life in keeping with their beliefs - always helping others and never celebrating money or celebrity. Marsha's life was one in support of her family and anyone who needed kindness. I am lucky that I knew Marsha and can count David as a friend. God Bless to you Marsha.

Anyone favour Capital Punishment?

"There are some crimes that are so barbaric that capital punishment is the only thing to do." Or so the argument goes but I don't agree. Today is another reminder of why I am against capital punishment. It is true that there are some criminal cases that are so upsetting that it is impossible to even read the details. The Fritzl case in Austria is one of them. No human being could feel anything but anger at this beast, anger also tinged with a sense of vengeance. I feel it myself sometimes when I hear about particular crimes particularly against children.
But cases like today's and the acquittal of Sean Hodgson is again proof that the Court system makes mistakes. Capital punishment would make those mistakes tragic and permanent. So again despite my fury at some sub-human behaviour I still think that we should keep free of the American way of doing things.
Below is the full story of today's acquittal from the Guardian's perspective.

 

Prisoner has murder conviction quashed after 27 years

Appeal court corrects miscarriage of justice as new DNA evidence quashes Sean Hodgson's conviction for rape and strangling of barmaid Teresa de Simone in 1979

A man who spent almost three decades in prison for crimes he did not commit had his conviction for rape and murder quashed by the court of appeal today thanks to a DNA analysis that could have established his innocence a decade ago.

Sean Hodgson, now 57, was sentenced to life in 1982 for the murder of Teresa de Simone, a 22-year-old gas board clerk and part-time barmaid.

De Simone's partly clothed body was found in the back of her Ford Escort by the Tom Tackle pub in Southampton, where she worked, in December 1979. She had been throttled to death with her gold crucifix necklace.

Hodgson made various confessions to police before pleading not guilty at his original trial at Winchester crown court. His defence team argued that Hodgson, who has mental health problems, was a pathological liar and his confessions were false.

He was convicted on the basis of his confessions and matches of blood type with samples found at the scene. No assessment of his mental state, or his apparent obsession with confessing to crimes he had not committed, was made.

Last week, Hampshire police reopened the murder inquiry after new analysis of DNA evidence from the scene did not match a sample from Hodgson. Such tests were not available at the time of his conviction – DNA evidence was not used in a British court until 1986.

Following the force's comprehensive forensic case review, evidence was passed to the Criminal Cases Review commission, which referred it to the appeal court and said there was a "real possibility the court would consider the conviction unsafe and quash it".

However, it emerged in court today that Hodgson could have been freed in 1998 when his legal team asked the Forensic Science Service to review the exhibits in the case. But they were wrongly told that the exhibits had been destroyed, and an investigation has been launched by the forensic science regulator.

Frail and pallid, Hodgson stood on the steps of the high court supported by his brother, Peter.

When his solicitor asked whether he would rather go back inside the court, he pointed to the press pack, saying: "I want to go down there."

To cheers and applause, he made his way slowly down the steps. When asked how he felt, he replied, in a barely audible voice: "Ecstatic. It's good to be out."

Asked what he made of the revelation that he could perhaps have been freed a decade ago, he said: "Disgraceful."

Around him, members of his family and legal team were in tears. "I've had a dream for 27 years — I know it's a hell of a long time," his brother said as he thanked the lawyers. "Now it's finally coming true."

A statement issued by Hodgson's solicitor, Julian Young, said his client was relieved that his innocence, which he had maintained for so many years, had been confirmed.

"Sadly, the mother of the victim now has to face the possibility and distress of the circumstances of the case being reopened," he said. "At a time when the criminal justice system is under scrutiny, it is gratifying to see all parties co-operating to rectify a serious miscarriage of justice."

Young also spoke of the mistake that had cost Hodgson a decade in prison. "Ten years ago, someone in the Forensic Science Service, perhaps by accident, made an error of some sort ... as a result, he stayed in custody 10 years longer," he said.

Indicating that further action for compensation was under consideration, he said: "Whether Forensic Science have liability in respect of an error 10 years ago is a matter for another day, when we have a chance to talk to Sean at some length."

Hodgson – who, the court heard, has suffered mental and physical health problems for many years – was now being helped by a miscarriage of justice team and would be visiting healthcare professionals. It would then be for him "to make his own decision on where he wants to live", Young said.

He added that Hodgson was "looking forward one day to going to watch a football match", adding that he believed he was a Sunderland supporter.

Earlier, Hodgson sat in court to hear the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, and his colleagues, Mr Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Wyn Williams, rule that his conviction was unsafe and would be quashed.

In his ruling, Judge said it was in the broad public interest for the court to set out the facts so people could understand how the conviction came about, why it had been quashed and how it was that these "disturbing events" took place.

He emphasised that, unlike many other miscarriages of justice, the conviction was not being quashed because some unacceptable feature of police misconduct had emerged, a witness had been untruthful or mistakes had been made during the trial.

"The conviction will be quashed for the simple reason that advances in the science of DNA, long after the end of the trial, have proved a fact which, if it had been known at the time would, notwithstanding the remaining evidence in the case, have resulted in quite a different investigation and a completely different trial," he said.

He said swabs taken from De Simone's body had been examined and sufficient remnants of sperm had been found on them for proper DNA analysis to be carried out, resulting in the conclusion that the sample on the swabs did not come from Hodgson.

"Whoever raped her ... on these findings, it can't be the appellant," Judge said. "The crown's case was that whoever raped her also killed her, so the new DNA evidence has demolished the case for the prosecution."

He said the decision "leaves some important unanswered questions".

"Perhaps the most important is that we do not know who raped and killed the dead girl," he said. "We can but hope that, for the sake of the appellant and the family of the murdered girl, that her killer may yet be identified and brought to justice."

At the end of the judgment, Judge announced that Hodgson would be discharged. A CPS spokesman later confirmed there would be no retrial.

Hampshire police said they had begun a new investigation into De Simone's murder, but said the inquiry could prove "protracted".

Speaking outside the high court, Detective Chief Inspector Philip McTavish said: "This is aimed at identifying the owner of the new DNA profile. The fact that we have this DNA also means that we are able to eliminate people from our inquiry. The original investigation and evidence is now being revisited with the benefit of the DNA evidence, and we will utilise the advances in forensic science."

Hodgson, who is also known as Robert Graham Hodgson, has spent much of his time in the psychiatric wing of Albany prison on the Isle of Wight. Fewer than 10 other people – including Harry Roberts, who killed three policemen in west London in 1966, and the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe – have served longer in jail.

The review commission has asked the Crown Prosecution Service to review all similar murder cases where DNA evidence is available and defendants are still alive.

Hodgson, the second-longest serving prisoner to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice in modern criminal history, is entitled to compensation that could amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Only Stephen Downing, jailed for beating to death Wendy Sewell in Bakewell, served a few months in jail longer before being set free. His conviction was overturned in 2002 and he is thought to have been awarded £500,000.