UK in Australia

It’s not often you get the chance to hear masterclasses on dark matter, heart disease, solar windows and kangaroo breath all in the same evening. This year’s Australian FameLab final had it all – but it was the whale snot that stole the show. FameLab is the world’s leading science communication competition by the British […]

Note: This article originally published in The Australian newspaper on 16th May 2018. This is a year of commemoration. We have just witnessed the poignant 100th anniversary of the battle of Villers-Bretonneux and the centenary of the Royal Air Force. On November 11 we will mark a century since the armistice ended World War I.  And today […]

The security world has a diversity problem. The number of women in senior security roles, within government (and beyond) while improving remains stubbornly low. The higher you go the worse it tends to get.   By background I am more of a securocrat than a diplomat and have spent most of my career working on national […]

Alderman Charles Bowman was elected and sworn in as the Lord Mayor of London on 10th November 2017 for the term of one-year. During his tenure the Lord Mayor will represent the City of London, often referred to as the ‘Square Mile’. This is the engine room of the UK economy, a small area but […]

As part of the UK Science and Innovation Network I get to work on some pretty cool stuff; a colleague once described my job as “nerd in residence”. Working on space research collaboration is definitely a highlight; and when I heard that the world’s largest space conference was coming to Australia, I jumped at the […]

As a Yorkshire lass who has lived in Australia for 5 years, I was thrilled 10 months ago to get a job at the British High Commission in Canberra assisting my fellow Brits in need – and the range of ways we can help has really surprised me! A consular officer’s primary focus is to […]

Last night I was honoured to host a private screening of the critically-acclaimed new blockbuster Dunkirk. The film proved to be a stunning depiction of an iconic moment in British military history. Personally, Christopher Nolan’s gripping account resonated for two powerful reasons. If you can indulge me I’d like to take you back to 1976. […]

It all started in a cafe in Montmarte, Paris. My husband and I were enjoying a drink when I noticed a father sitting with his daughters. He’d ordered two glasses of wine and set the girls up with iPads.  Then, clearly straight from the office, arrived a woman to greet her family. I didn’t know […]

A year after the end of the First World War, a beautiful baby girl, Vera Constance Parker, was born in the tiny town of Stapleford in Northern England.  But even as her father Walter celebrated her birth, he was already succumbing to the devastating wounds that would eventually kill him. Walter had been mortally wounded […]