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
19th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Making the Case for Tolerance
This afternoon I will attend a memorial service in the City of London’s Guildhall to celebrate the long, eventful life of Sir Nicholas Winton, who died last year aged 106. As a young man, Sir Nicholas travelled briefly to Prague in 1938 to help a friend facilitating urgent evacuation of refugees from the looming Nazi […]
18th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Pontifical Diplomacy
The international activism and high profile of Pope Francis has generated renewed interest in the nature and practice of the Holy See’s diplomacy. Just in the last week, the Pope visited the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy – the papal diplomatic college – to meet the young priests preparing there to take up their role as a […]
18th May 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Arctic Convoys: UK veteran leaves his medals to a school in Murmansk
Russia celebrated Victory Day on 9 May. Commemorative events took place across the country. In St Petersburg, I joined the Governor and thousands of St Petersburg residents to lay flowers at Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, where half a million of the victims of the Leningrad Siege are buried. The following day I was in Murmansk, another […]
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17th May 2016 Paris, France
Euro 2016: hit the road Jacques
With three of the home nations having qualified for the European Championships – and hosts France such a short hop away – this summer’s tournament is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of British nationals. And whether you’re travelling by land, air or sea, we’ve got everything you need to #BeOnTheBall. If you’re already thinking about your visit, […]
17th May 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Minding mental health
“It’s Mental Health Awareness week this week, and we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on a recent mental health consular case the team has been supporting. A few weeks ago, a British National came for a holiday of a lifetime to the Maldives. This person had a pre-existing mental health condition, but did not inform […]
17th May 2016 Vilnius, Lithuania
Why I am – visiting HMS Iron Duke in Klaipeda
This week the UK Royal Navy ship, HMS Iron Duke, visits Klaipeda. HMS Iron Duke (the HMS stands for Her Majesty’s Ship) is taking part in NATO activity in the Baltic Sea and will be doing some training with the Lithuanian Navy. She (ships in English are female) has already visited Tallinn and Riga. HMS […]
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16th May 2016 San Francisco, USA
FUNDING: Securing the Internet of Things
Funding Opportunity The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Silicon Valley Office has issued a solicitation for innovators to submit ideas focused on Internet of Things (IoT) Security—HSHQDC-16-R-00035. This call, open until December 11, 2016, is seeking solutions from participants from across the nation (and around the world) addressing one, some or all of the following three areas: […]
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16th May 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
Name me one country where corruption doesn’t exist
Name me one country where corruption doesn’t exist. You can’t, I know. Corruption exists, to a greater or lesser extent, in every country. And that global reach is one of the reasons behind the Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron in London on 12 May. This was no conventional summit limited to Heads […]
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12th May 2016 Washington DC, USA
London summit brings together public and private sectors to fight corruption
Corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the world’s problems. It erodes trust, undermines stability, and breeds injustice. It’s costly in so many ways — estimates by the World Economic Forum show that corruption sets the global economy back by $2.6 trillion. And the World Bank has estimated that corruption adds to global […]
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11th May 2016 Vancouver, Canada
New Planes and New Opportunities
It defies logic. Every sensible instinct tells me it should be impossible. At almost 73 metres it’s longer than an ice hockey rink, it’s four times the height of my house (and I don’t live in a bungalow) and it carries over 500 passengers (plus luggage). Staring at it through the window of Vancouver International […]