Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of18th March 2021 Vienna, Austria
“My boy is back. Thanks for all the hard work that helped make this happen!” The tweet sent late morning on 4 April 2020 shows two happy faces. Father and son reunited again in the UK. It was a positive ending of a weeks-long operation by British Embassy Vienna staff, evacuating 391 young British ski […]
17th March 2021 Vienna, Austria
During my career in the UK’s foreign service I have experienced how British foreign policy can be both stable and flexible at the same time. Does that sound like a paradox? It is entirely logical. For as long as I can remember, the UK government has sought to defend and promote human rights, democracy, rule […]
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23rd February 2021 Vienna, Austria
“September 1996, Beijing: second of three formal sessions of the Joint Liaison Group. There are 15 on each side of the long tables, with consecutive interpretation and note-takers on further tables behind us. We go through the agenda, rehearsing positions on each side, notching up here and there agreements that will be the evidence in […]
Read more on Diplomatic lessons 5, 1995-98: make a difference | Reply (1)
14th January 2021 Vienna, Austria
Outside “The Two Chairmen”[1], the beer was cool and fresh. My colleague raised his glass. ‘You had children a few years back,’ he said. ‘We can’t decide on the best time. What do you think?’ ‘Some things, you can’t plan,’ I said. I had met Pamela, a colleague in London, in 1990. Later that year, […]
Read more on Diplomatic lessons 4, Russia 1991-95: have a plan, and break it | Reply
4th January 2021 Vienna, Austria
We are at a turning point for our planet. As the world comes back from COVID-19, it is vital that we build back greener and more resilient. This year, the UK will host the 26th UN climate change conference COP26, in Glasgow with our partners, Italy. The pandemic has not stopped the climate crisis. On […]
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15th December 2020 Vienna, Austria
The day I started my job as Desk Officer for Budget and Finance in the European Community Department (Internal) of the Foreign Office on 2 November 1987 turned out to be a long one. In the evening, I sat with my colleague Ralph Publicover[1], Desk Officer for the Common Agricultural Policy (including stabilisers and Monetary […]
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25th November 2020 Vienna, Austria
I was working in the personnel departments of the FCO[1] when Judith Macgregor[2], head of my section, put her head around the door and beckoned. An officer named John Everard[2] had resigned from his post as second secretary (political) and press officer at the British Embassy in Vienna, she said. They needed a German speaker, […]
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24th November 2020 Vienna, Austria
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK PART IN THIS Q&A. We have now responded to your comments here and on facebook. You can find a document with all of the questions and answers here. The British Embassy Vienna is running an online Q&A session on our embassy facebook page on Thursday 26 November. At midday on […]
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23rd October 2020 Vienna, Austria
I’m delivering an online apprenticeship talk to staff in Vienna when someone asks me if I’ve thought of summarising everything I’ve learned in my 41-year career. ‘No,’ I say. They urge me to think again. So here is the first of several blogs seeking to distil a few lessons. Comments welcome. 3 October 1979 My […]
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15th October 2020 Vienna, Austria
On 29 September the British Embassy Vienna invited young people from all over Austria to join a Debate Workshop. Youth from Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia as well as Vienna came together, separated by appropriate “baby elephants” (Austria’s 1.5m rule) to practice their skills. Trainers from Debattierklub Vienna, Joy Edobor and Miri Muntean, introduced […]
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