3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
5th February 2016 Minsk, Belarus
First two weeks in Belarus
Twenty years ago, on a posting to Ukraine, Belarus was this distant mysterious country lying to the north. My chief knowledge about Belarus was that it was badly affected by Chernobyl as the winds were blowing north at the time of the disaster. As I prepared to come here, I talked to people about Belarus […]
5th February 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK expats – join thousands of others registered to vote in the EU referendum
At the 2015 General Election there were more overseas voters registered than ever. Almost 106,000 overseas electors registered to vote – three times the numbers that were on the register ahead of the previous general election in 2010. While this is a real improvement, it is still a fraction of the 5.5 million UK citizens […]
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4th February 2016 Beijing, China
Working with Korea to tackle antimicrobial resistance
Last week I visited Seoul to attend the first UK-Korea workshop to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), expertly organised by the SIN Korea team. If not tackled, AMR is going to kill an additional 10 million people every year by 2050. In China and India there is already 100% resistance to some antibiotics. But this is […]
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4th February 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The 100th Anniversary of the Anglo-Russian Hospital in St Petersburg, Russia
I was delighted to accompany the new British Ambassador to Russia, Laurie Bristow, to an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Anglo-Russian Hospital in St Petersburg on 30 January. The fascinating story of the hospital is another fine example of the importance of people to people contacts between British and Russian people during the […]
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4th February 2016 London, UK
Syria conference in London
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the civil war in Syria, the most urgent humanitarian catastrophe of the day continues with a quarter of a million lives lost to date. The international community must significantly step up its efforts and act now to support the 18 million people in Syria and neighbouring countries who […]
4th February 2016 Oslo, Norway
British nationals in Norway: Voting in the UK referendum on the EU
Legislation passed shortly before Christmas means that British nationals who have been a registered voter in the UK within the last 15 years will be able to vote in the referendum on UK membership of the European Union. How British Nationals living in Norway can vote in the referendum The date of the referendum is […]
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4th February 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Conspiracy theories: “Of, ya!”
It may be time for me to shut up about conspiracy theories. I’ve written often on this subject, including: James Bond, conspiracies and the Welsh Secret Service (how, on conspiracy theory logic, the lack of any evidence for the WSS existing must make it utterly all-powerful) The perils of conspiracy theories (with bonus video of […]
4th February 2016 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Democracy at Home and Abroad
Earlier this week in Colombo, we gathered together a group of civil society and human rights organisations. For different reasons, Sri Lanka and Maldives are priorities for human rights for the UK. That gives the High Commission access to the Magna Carta Fund, a strategic programme fund dedicated to tackling the root causes of human […]
4th February 2016 Canberra, Australia
Did you know expats will be able to vote in the EU referendum?
In my travels around Australia I am often asked about the EU referendum. And many of those asking are Britons or people with deep ties to the UK. The interest is understandable. The last referendum on this issue was 40 years ago. Ultimately it will be the British people who decide whether we’re stronger and […]
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3rd February 2016 Athens, Greece
Gennadius, the Koraes Chair and the state of Modern Greek in Britain
Last week, I had the pleasure of giving the annual lecture in memory of John Gennadius to the Association of Friends of the Gennadius Library. Gennadius was the representative of Greece to the United Kingdom for over forty years (1875-1918), a tireless advocate of Greek interests, a friend of Britain, an intellectual, man of letters, […]
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