3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
15th September 2016 Mogadishu, Somalia
Working with the Somali National Army
I recently joined the small team of British military advisors, currently deployed in Somalia to train, equip and advise the Somali National Army (SNA). It’s a fascinating job, with every day throwing up a completely new and unique set of challenges – no week is the same in this role. We do a wide range […]
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15th September 2016 London, UK
International Day of Democracy 2016
A year ago today, to mark International Day of Democracy, I launched the Magna Carta Partnership Initiative. This consisted of a series of small projects in selected parts of the world where we judged that UK expertise could reinvigorate and promote the development of democracy, and strengthen the rule of law. Through this support, we […]
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14th September 2016 Guatemala City
Thinking of Democracy
As a public servant and as a Briton, to talk about democracy is to talk about something I am passionate about. It’s not that I am an expert in the topic, but it is a system with which I can identify closely and it is an ideal which drives every day of my working life. […]
13th September 2016 London, UK
Foreign Office Virtual tour
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
12th September 2016 Bangalore, India
Bengaluru Space Expo 2016: Indian space sector is opening up
I had the opportunity to attend the 5th Bengaluru Space Expo 2016, a biennial event organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) commercial arm ANTRIX and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The expo brings together space companies to exploit new technology and act as a potential gateway into the global space technology market. The […]
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9th September 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Why I am – celebrating the 25th anniversary of our Embassy
In 1991 the UK and Lithuania restored diplomatic relations. The UK recognised the re-establishment of the Independent State of Lithuania de jure on 27 August 1991, although we had never formally recognised the Soviet occupation. Things then moved quickly. Michael Peart, who was the UK’s first Ambassador to Lithuania after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, […]
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9th September 2016 Kolkata, India
From Belarus to … Bengal!
Last December, I flew in for the last time to Minsk, the city of my previous posting. As the aeroplane descended through the clouds, a pale whitish landscape emerged – there had been a light snow fall. Like many Britons, the sight of snow cheers me – I think it’s because we see it only […]
8th September 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
Presidency: Time for #IndependenceDay2
It is now a year since I took up my appointment as UK Ambassador (designate) to Lebanon. It’s time to admit that, for all the wonderful experiences of my first year in this beautiful and welcoming country, there has been one big disappointment: Lebanon’s failure to elect a new President. And this is fundamental, because […]
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7th September 2016 London, UK
How Syria can escape Asad’s reign of terror
For anyone who has visited Aleppo in peacetime, the news from the city today is enough to make you weep. We are seeing indiscriminate attacks on civilians; the bombing of medical facilities; children pulled bloodied from the rubble. We are forced to watch one of the most ancient homes of civilisation being literally pulverised, the […]
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6th September 2016 Boston, USA
Spotlighting Robotics Innovation in ‘Olde’ and ‘New’ England
The UK robotics cluster is fueled by more than a dozen academic research & development centres, long-term UK government funding support of £150 million, and companies that span sectors from medicine and healthcare, autonomous cars, defence technology and drones, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, and others. Most recently, a £5 million challenge was launched to focus collaboration […]
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