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 March 2016 Science and Innovation Network
Research, Robots, and Virtual Reality: the Future of Manufacturing
Does the assertion ‘The U.K. doesn’t make things any more’ sound familiar? Do we now trade bonds, sell insurance, and brew lattes, rather than make cars? Is manufacturing now only the preserve of emerging economies? These are some of the perceptions of the UK’s manufacturing industry. The reality is a bit different. Manufacturing remains a […]
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24th March 2016 London, UK
Supporting the Colombian Peace Process
Since official talks began between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) three years ago, the UK has been committed to supporting the Peace Process in any way we can. Commitment to achieving a lasting peace has resulted in tough negotiations for both sides. I encourage all parties to maintain efforts […]
24th March 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Fashion, furlongs and fundamental rights
Last week, I awarded the prizes at Sri Lanka’s Young Speaker 2016 competition. This is a testing event, in which young people have to make two short speeches, one prepared, and one on a topic given to them just two minutes before they take to the stage. It’s organised by the British School in Colombo […]
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24th March 2016 Minsk, Belarus
6 weeks later
It has been just over eight weeks since my arrival and about six weeks since my last blog – perhaps that’s a sign of how busy a time it has been. I’ve met Ministers, opposition leaders, civil society representatives, journalists, been to Vilnius for a conference, talked to students, listened to businesspeople, and of course, […]
23rd March 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Fifty Anglican years at the Vatican
March 1966 saw an historic visit to the Vatican, the first official visit by an Archbishop of Canterbury since – incredibly – Thomas Arundel in 1398. Rightly, it will be much celebrated during the year ahead. The visit had been made possible by the Second Vatican Council, which formally opened up the Roman Catholic Church […]
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22nd March 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
Dialogue and Democracy – the Value of Magna Carta for Contemporary Times
On 15 June 2015, the United Kingdom marked the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta Libertatum, one of the most significant legal documents ever written. “No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon […]
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22nd March 2016 British High Commission, Kingston, Jamaica
Women, Leadership & Unconscious Bias
I am in my eighth week of my internship at the British High Commission in Kingston, and International Women’s Day was March 8th. The theme for this year is focused on a pledge for parity. Even though women’s representation in our Parliament continues to be below 25%, gender parity is an under-discussed issue in Jamaica. That […]
22nd March 2016 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Shakespeare’s Hamlet for Refugees in Djibouti
By Ruth Bradley-Jones Can you imagine two journeys more different? That of 3000 Yemeni refugees http://ow.ly/ZNIbB fleeing conflict in their homeland across the 30 mile stretch of water to the dessert in Djibouti; and the 260,000 miles and 160 countries travelled by the London company of the Shakespeare’s global tour of Hamlet http://ow.ly/ZNP11. But in […]
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21st March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
Dungeons and Dragons
Sorry for last week’s silence. A bout of family flu and some absent colleagues kept me busier than usual but thankfully everyone’s fine again. The middle two weeks of the Council session have been typically frantic with everyone trying to work out the version of their resolutions to table which they hope will attract the […]
21st March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The Syrian Conflict Comes to Geneva
The Syrian conflict is the source of the most immediate threats now facing the United Kingdom and Europe. Dealing with it has become the most important agenda in Geneva. Our citizens have travelled to the conflict and came back radicalised and ready to commit acts of terrorism. Regional rivals have been drawn into the conflict […]