2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
13th October 2025
UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls: September visits to Sarajevo and New York
29th July 2016
Collaboration on a global stage
As well as being the UK’s national weather and climate service, the Met Office works internationally in support of the delivery of UK government policy and as part of our commitment to improving global weather and climate provision. Collaboration is integral to achieving these aims and includes working with other parts of UK government. As […]
26th July 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The UK has always supported the WTO and that won’t change
Some have asked whether Britain’s decision to leave the EU will affect the World Trade Organisation. And the answer is that, in perhaps the most important respect, nothing will change. Britain helped found the WTO, has been a leading supporter while in the EU, and is set to remain one of its leading supporters when […]
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26th July 2016 Bangalore, India
Interview with Prof Simon Croft
Manjari Chakravorty, Knowledge Economy Adviser in Kolkata had the opportunity to interview Prof Simon Croft, Professor of Parasitology in the Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and the first and former R&D Director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), Geneva. Prof Simon was […]
26th July 2016 New Delhi, India
Newton Fund spearheading UK’s science and innovation partnership with India
Last month I was at the 5th UK-India Science and Innovation Council meeting in London where the UK’s Minister for Science and Universities Jo Johnson welcomed his counterpart from India Dr Harsh Vardhan to jointly assess the collaborations between the two countries in the areas of science and innovation. Both the ministers met at the […]
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25th July 2016 London, UK
My first month at the DTU – Digital Transformation in a historic setting
DTU one month in. On my first day as Product Manager in the Digital Transformation Unit (DTU) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) it rained, hard. Having carefully selected a suit to wear, eager to give a good, professional first impression, I arrived looking like the proverbial drowned rat. Soaked through, I may have […]
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25th July 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Why I am – talking to young leaders at their international summer school
On 25 July I’m very excited to be talking to 120 young leaders from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and the UK at an International Future Leaders School in Trakai. Meeting teenagers and university students in Lithuania is one of my favourite things to do. I enjoy hearing their perspective on life, and find they ask […]
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25th July 2016 Canberra, Australia
One month later
If a week is a long time in politics, the last four weeks in the UK have felt like decades. In Australia, you’ve had your election and there is (finally) a winner: congratulations to Malcolm Turnbull. In the UK, our political system has convulsed on the back of the decision by the British people to […]
22nd July 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
24 hours of democracy in action and its impact on Turks and Caicos Islands and other Overseas Territories
I was delighted and honoured to have the opportunity to welcome to the Turks and Caicos Islands on 20 and 21 July the Premiers, Chief Ministers and Ministers from no less than seven Overseas Territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Montserrat. This is also a big honour for TCI, and a […]
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22nd July 2016 London, UK
Australians on the Western Front
Mention Australia or New Zealand and the First World War together and the first association is Gallipoli. It is right that we remember the sacrifices made at Gallipoli, but the story of both forces in the First World War did not end there. The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) actually did the majority of its fighting […]
22nd July 2016 London, UK
Gearing up for the Games
It’s beginning to feel very real. There are only two weeks to go until the start of Rio 2016. Brazil has been in the unusual (unprecedented?) position of hosting the top three sporting events in the world in the space of just two years. That also meant that just as the lights were going out in the […]