1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
23rd November 2016 Beijing, China
First non-animal test method accepted by China
China has taken an important step, supported by the Science & Innovation team in Beijing, to improve animal welfare in China. On 11 November the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) published its first non-animal method for testing cosmetic ingredients. This is great news as the new method can now be used to assess the […]
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22nd November 2016 Washington DC, USA
In A Force of the Future, An Equal Opportunity to Serve
I had the pleasure of joining Samantha Job from the Embassy and Mackenzie Eaglen from AEI on a panel on Monday night discussing Women in Defence. Moderated by Nina Wagner from the Pentagon. We talked about how far we had come, not least in the 35 years of my military service, but also how much […]
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22nd November 2016 London, UK
Linking ports to power the engine room of East Africa’s trade
Trademark East Africa’s support for the modernization of ports in Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam, and its one-stop border posts, are transforming trade and driving integration across East Africa. The UK in Kenya and Tanzania plays an important role in supporting them, through UK aid. The time it takes to move goods from Mombasa to Kampala has […]
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22nd November 2016 Jerusalem, Israel
Preserving a Palestinian Tradition
The olive harvest season in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Families get up early in the morning and journey to their land in the mountains and fields in order to pick those small green or black olives. They work under the hot sun for hours, have a traditional Palestinian meal and […]
22nd November 2016 Bangalore, India
Connected cities – seeking new opportunities for global partnership
I arrived in India after an exciting few days at the Innovate 2016 event in Manchester, co-hosted by Innovate UK and the Department for International Trade. Cities of the future were an important theme of the event, showcasing UK innovation. Panel sessions and presentations covered topics ranging from urban living to autonomous transport, and digital […]
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21st November 2016 London, UK
Rolls-Royce for EL AL: How we landed the biggest UK-Israel trade deal in history
I’ve always been fascinated by jet aircraft, especially those used by commercial airlines. As a kid, it was a real holiday for me when my father would take me for a drive on a Sunday to see the aircraft taking off and landing at London Airport – now Heathrow. More recently my interest has been […]
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21st November 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Remembrance Day Commemorations in North West Russia
Every November we recognise the brave British and Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen who served in North West Russia during World War One, including the Allied Intervention period of 1918-19, and World War Two. This was a particularly important year as we commemorated the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first of the Arctic […]
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21st November 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Preserving the Historic Buildings of Romania
I was really pleased to host last week with the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the NGO Monumentum an event which highlighted two new initiatives to help in the raising awareness about, and preservation of, Romania’s cultural patrimony. The first was the “Ambulance for Monuments” project being piloted by Monumentum in Southern Transylvania; a means […]
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21st November 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
To 365 Days of Independence
Mabrouk, Lebanon! There is a positive new mood in the country. Posters have gone up, and flags been hoisted. Just last week I was treated to a truly stately guard of honour and credentials ceremony at Baabda Palace, and was honoured to finally present my credentials to President Aoun. It has been a long time […]
21st November 2016 Chennai, India
Yashoda’s story: burn survivors of violence against women and the need for a support system
On Wednesday, I will launch British Deputy High Commission Chennai’s violence against women (VAW) project at Kerala’s Baby Memorial Hospital (BMH) in Kozhikode (Calicut). Here’s a great blog by Rudy Fernandez who’s leading on this project which we’re running across several Indian states over the next couple of months to support better government responses and […]
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