Sir Peter Westmacott, KCMG, LVO, became British Ambassador to the United States in January 2012. This is his second posting in Washington, having previously served as the British Embassy’s Counsellor for Political and Public Affairs in the mid-1990s. Prior to his service as ambassador to the United States, Peter served as the British Ambassador to France—from 2007 to 2011—and as Ambassador to Turkey starting in 2002. Peter’s forty-year career in the British Diplomatic Service has included postings in Tehran and Brussels, time as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Director for the Americas, and a seat on the board of the Foreign Office as Deputy Under Secretary. In addition, he served as Deputy Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales from 1990 to 1993.
Peter’s personal connection to the United States extends back even further than his diplomatic posting. In 1942, his father was a sailor on the HMS Illustrious as it underwent repairs in Norfolk, Virginia to recover from damage inflicted during fighting at Malta.
***
[DC]: The overarching themes for this G8 summit are trade, taxes, and transparency. Out of the three, do you see one theme taking precedence?
[PW]: What unites the ‘three Ts’ is that they’re all about restoring longer-term prosperity to the world economy. Free trade is essential to unlocking pent-up potential for growth. Addressing tax evasion, as well as being the right thing to do, could bring billions of dollars back into the public purse and reduce the need for higher taxes. And transparency, as David Cameron has noted, is one of the fundamental conditions for sustained growth in any economy, whether advanced or developing. So rather than three separate issues, the three Ts actually form a single, coherent package.
[DC]: In terms of trade talk at the G8, there seems to be a trend toward trade liberalization and free-trade agreements. What do you see this doing for the G8 community, and how will this help G8 economies?
[PW]: I am delighted to see the progress all G8 countries are making on free trade. The Obama Administration is making strides toward a Trans-Pacific Partnership with its Asian allies. The EU, whose four biggest economies are G8 members, is now negotiating around eleven free trade agreements, including with two other G8 members, Canada and Japan. Following Russia’s accession in August last year, this will be the first G8 Summit where all eight member countries are also members of the WTO.
The biggest prize of all in free trade will be the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, which we hope to start negotiating in the summer. GDP gains from bringing together the world’s two biggest economies could be in the hundreds of billions, putting us back on the road to growth and employment and sending a powerful signal about our leadership on trade.
[DC]: In terms of taxes and the strengthening of international tax standards, do you see the main focus being within the G8 community, or will the focus be towards improving developing countries’ ability to collect due tax?
[PW]: No one country—or even eight countries—can effectively tackle tax evasion and avoidance. At the G8 we hope to make progress on agreeing global standards for information sharing, so that we can track the flow of money into offshore accounts. But the G8 should also help developing countries to improve their systems and tackle abuses so that all governments—no matter their size or sophistication—can collect the taxes they are due. For example, for years the UK has worked with Ethiopian authorities to help them establish better tax collection and in less than a decade, the amount of tax collected has increased seven-fold.
[DC]: In terms of transparency, how do you think that the G8 summit will reach its goal? What terms should be in place to assure this sort of transparency internationally?
[PW]: Transparency means giving citizens the information they need to hold governments and others to account for their actions. It’s only right that the G8 countries, as some of the most advanced and powerful nations in the world, should take the lead. So, for example, we will push our G8 partners to introduce rules compelling their energy and mining firms to publish what they pay to government officials.
Governments should also walk the walk, of course, by making their own data public. So one of the things the G8 leaders will discuss is an Open Data Charter containing standards for publication to ensure that government information is properly formatted for people’s computers, accessible to everybody, comparable between countries and so on.
Too often, the proceeds of shady dealings around the world end up being laundered through financial institutions in G8 countries. This is unacceptable. So we will work to establish mechanisms to track these flows of illegal money and put a stop to them.
[DC]: Do you see transparency and food security being linked in this G8 Summit?
[PW]: Yes. Our efforts to make public more details of our aid projects, including of course those on food security, will encourage more effective spending by allowing taxpayers and recipients to hold us to account. Also under the transparency rubric, we will work with developing countries to publish important information about the way companies and governments manage one of the most precious resources of all—the land. This should have a direct impact on food security because it will encourage the most efficient use.
On food security more generally, we are looking forward to strengthening the New Alliance, an anti-poverty project established at last year’s G8 thanks to strong American leadership. Food security and nutrition is an important focus for the Alliance, which aims to bring 50 million people out of poverty.
Fundamentally, of course, all of our efforts to encourage development should improve food security by helping developing countries to grow their economies.
[DC]: The statement regarding the Lough Erne 2013 is that we “will return the G8 to its roots... one table and one conversation, with G8 leaders holding each other to account.” Can you shed some light on what exactly you think the meaning and outcome of getting the G8 “back to its roots” will be?
[PW]: As David Cameron has said, too many summits these days are about mile-long motorcades, entourages and meaningless pledges, not concrete action. This will not be that kind of summit. Bells and whistles will be kept to a minimum. Leaders will speak to each other directly and frankly in order to hammer out meaningful commitments on the major issues.
The relatively secluded setting of Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, has been specifically chosen to create the right environment for this.
[DC]: There has reportedly been criticism for the UK’s decision to hold the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. What is your take on the location, and the fact that the summit will coincide with loyalists’ protest campaigns?
[PW]: Over the past 15 years, Northern Ireland has emerged from sectarian conflict to become one of the most exciting places in Europe to trade, invest, visit and study. The choice of Enniskillen to host the Summit is a tribute to that transformation and an opportunity for Northern Ireland to show the world how far it has come (and the stunning beauty of it landscape). Of course, there are always protests at G8 summits, wherever they are held. As long as they are peaceful, we respect and will protect the right to protest.
[DC]: Since the development of the G20, many have wondered whether or not the G8 summit hold significant power. What is your take on this?
[PW]: Of course, the G20 is now the premier forum for global economic cooperation. But the G8 has an important, broader role. Remember that G8 members together represent half of global GDP, nearly two thirds of worldwide defence spending, and almost 70 percent of international aid spending. It remains a very powerful grouping, capable of addressing the broadest range of economic, security and development issues in a small, intimate and, consequently, powerful setting.
This article was originally published in the special annual G8 Summit 2013 edition. Published with permission.
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Interview: Sir Peter Westmacott, British Ambassador to the United States
July 1, 2013
Sir Peter Westmacott, KCMG, LVO, became British Ambassador to the United States in January 2012. This is his second posting in Washington, having previously served as the British Embassy’s Counsellor for Political and Public Affairs in the mid-1990s. Prior to his service as ambassador to the United States, Peter served as the British Ambassador to France—from 2007 to 2011—and as Ambassador to Turkey starting in 2002. Peter’s forty-year career in the British Diplomatic Service has included postings in Tehran and Brussels, time as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Director for the Americas, and a seat on the board of the Foreign Office as Deputy Under Secretary. In addition, he served as Deputy Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales from 1990 to 1993.
Peter’s personal connection to the United States extends back even further than his diplomatic posting. In 1942, his father was a sailor on the HMS Illustrious as it underwent repairs in Norfolk, Virginia to recover from damage inflicted during fighting at Malta.
***
[DC]: The overarching themes for this G8 summit are trade, taxes, and transparency. Out of the three, do you see one theme taking precedence?
[PW]: What unites the ‘three Ts’ is that they’re all about restoring longer-term prosperity to the world economy. Free trade is essential to unlocking pent-up potential for growth. Addressing tax evasion, as well as being the right thing to do, could bring billions of dollars back into the public purse and reduce the need for higher taxes. And transparency, as David Cameron has noted, is one of the fundamental conditions for sustained growth in any economy, whether advanced or developing. So rather than three separate issues, the three Ts actually form a single, coherent package.
[DC]: In terms of trade talk at the G8, there seems to be a trend toward trade liberalization and free-trade agreements. What do you see this doing for the G8 community, and how will this help G8 economies?
[PW]: I am delighted to see the progress all G8 countries are making on free trade. The Obama Administration is making strides toward a Trans-Pacific Partnership with its Asian allies. The EU, whose four biggest economies are G8 members, is now negotiating around eleven free trade agreements, including with two other G8 members, Canada and Japan. Following Russia’s accession in August last year, this will be the first G8 Summit where all eight member countries are also members of the WTO.
The biggest prize of all in free trade will be the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, which we hope to start negotiating in the summer. GDP gains from bringing together the world’s two biggest economies could be in the hundreds of billions, putting us back on the road to growth and employment and sending a powerful signal about our leadership on trade.
[DC]: In terms of taxes and the strengthening of international tax standards, do you see the main focus being within the G8 community, or will the focus be towards improving developing countries’ ability to collect due tax?
[PW]: No one country—or even eight countries—can effectively tackle tax evasion and avoidance. At the G8 we hope to make progress on agreeing global standards for information sharing, so that we can track the flow of money into offshore accounts. But the G8 should also help developing countries to improve their systems and tackle abuses so that all governments—no matter their size or sophistication—can collect the taxes they are due. For example, for years the UK has worked with Ethiopian authorities to help them establish better tax collection and in less than a decade, the amount of tax collected has increased seven-fold.
[DC]: In terms of transparency, how do you think that the G8 summit will reach its goal? What terms should be in place to assure this sort of transparency internationally?
[PW]: Transparency means giving citizens the information they need to hold governments and others to account for their actions. It’s only right that the G8 countries, as some of the most advanced and powerful nations in the world, should take the lead. So, for example, we will push our G8 partners to introduce rules compelling their energy and mining firms to publish what they pay to government officials.
Governments should also walk the walk, of course, by making their own data public. So one of the things the G8 leaders will discuss is an Open Data Charter containing standards for publication to ensure that government information is properly formatted for people’s computers, accessible to everybody, comparable between countries and so on.
Too often, the proceeds of shady dealings around the world end up being laundered through financial institutions in G8 countries. This is unacceptable. So we will work to establish mechanisms to track these flows of illegal money and put a stop to them.
[DC]: Do you see transparency and food security being linked in this G8 Summit?
[PW]: Yes. Our efforts to make public more details of our aid projects, including of course those on food security, will encourage more effective spending by allowing taxpayers and recipients to hold us to account. Also under the transparency rubric, we will work with developing countries to publish important information about the way companies and governments manage one of the most precious resources of all—the land. This should have a direct impact on food security because it will encourage the most efficient use.
On food security more generally, we are looking forward to strengthening the New Alliance, an anti-poverty project established at last year’s G8 thanks to strong American leadership. Food security and nutrition is an important focus for the Alliance, which aims to bring 50 million people out of poverty.
Fundamentally, of course, all of our efforts to encourage development should improve food security by helping developing countries to grow their economies.
[DC]: The statement regarding the Lough Erne 2013 is that we “will return the G8 to its roots... one table and one conversation, with G8 leaders holding each other to account.” Can you shed some light on what exactly you think the meaning and outcome of getting the G8 “back to its roots” will be?
[PW]: As David Cameron has said, too many summits these days are about mile-long motorcades, entourages and meaningless pledges, not concrete action. This will not be that kind of summit. Bells and whistles will be kept to a minimum. Leaders will speak to each other directly and frankly in order to hammer out meaningful commitments on the major issues.
The relatively secluded setting of Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, has been specifically chosen to create the right environment for this.
[DC]: There has reportedly been criticism for the UK’s decision to hold the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. What is your take on the location, and the fact that the summit will coincide with loyalists’ protest campaigns?
[PW]: Over the past 15 years, Northern Ireland has emerged from sectarian conflict to become one of the most exciting places in Europe to trade, invest, visit and study. The choice of Enniskillen to host the Summit is a tribute to that transformation and an opportunity for Northern Ireland to show the world how far it has come (and the stunning beauty of it landscape). Of course, there are always protests at G8 summits, wherever they are held. As long as they are peaceful, we respect and will protect the right to protest.
[DC]: Since the development of the G20, many have wondered whether or not the G8 summit hold significant power. What is your take on this?
[PW]: Of course, the G20 is now the premier forum for global economic cooperation. But the G8 has an important, broader role. Remember that G8 members together represent half of global GDP, nearly two thirds of worldwide defence spending, and almost 70 percent of international aid spending. It remains a very powerful grouping, capable of addressing the broadest range of economic, security and development issues in a small, intimate and, consequently, powerful setting.
This article was originally published in the special annual G8 Summit 2013 edition. Published with permission.
