9th March 2017 Tokyo, Japan
On 11 March, it will be six years since the people of East Japan suffered the triple blows of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. None of us, around the world, will forget watching the terrible footage on our TV screens. For Japan it was the most significant domestic event for decades. So I was keen […]
Read more on Six years after the tsunami, Japanese resilience | Reply (1)
14th February 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Well, I’ve now completed my first month in Japan. It’s been interesting comparing my experiences with the first time I was posted here more than 25 years ago. It’s hard to make direct comparisons because coming back as Ambassador after a long Foreign Office career, is different from arriving on your very first overseas posting. […]
9th January 2017 Tokyo, Japan
After spending much of this year re-learning Japanese, I have been in a whirl of final preparations before heading off Tokyo in January, as Ambassador to Japan. I have been all over the UK, including Scotland and Wales, meeting ministers, officials and Japanese investors. In Cardiff, Japanese Ambassador Tsuruoka and I met the First Minister, […]
Read more on Final preparations before heading to Tokyo | Reply (3)
18th September 2015
The magnificent Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich provided a splendid setting for this year’s UK/China People to People dialogue on 17 September. The Wren-designed buildings of the College, facing the towers of Canary Wharf across a Thames River sparkling in September sunshine, presented a fine example of the juxtaposition of […]
9th February 2015
This is my final blog from Australia. My 205th. I hope someone’s been reading them. It has been one of the greatest privileges and pleasures of my life to represent Britain in Australia as the Pom HC. There is no country to which we feel closer. It has been a fantastic time to be here. […]
8th February 2015
Well, finally, it’s time to say farewell to Canberra. Our home for the last four years. It’s not the first time we’ve lived in a planned, administrative capital, but Washington was different, and older. While we were here, Canberra celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013, with many events and exhibitions. It was a reminder of […]
5th February 2015
Our final trip to Brisbane, that dynamic city of glittering skyscrapers in the hot and sometimes humid tropical state of Queensland, which always sees itself as just a bit different from the rest of Australia. It was one of the first places I visited when I arrived in January 2011, as Kevin Rudd brought William […]
4th February 2015
I can hardly believe I’m saying farewell to Sydney at the end of our posting here. It has been our second home during our time in Australia. I’ve probably been in Sydney nearly once a week for the last four years, and often come up for the weekend. I feel I’ve got to know very […]
3rd February 2015
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon have just been in Sydney for the 7th annual AUKMIN talks with their opposite numbers Julie Bishop and Kevin Andrews on 2 February. This is a big event, with participants also including the Chiefs of Defence and senior officials from each country. PM Tony Abbott hosted […]
Read more on Australia UK Ministerial meeting (AUKMIN) in Sydney | Reply
27th January 2015
Adelaide is the largest city in Australia that we don’t have a British Consulate in. It’s a significant population centre and an important economic hub, with some prominent national politicians. It has also produced my last two opposite numbers as Australian High Commissioner in London – former Premier Mike Rann, and former Foreign Minister Alexander […]