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?
2nd December 2015 London, UK
Snapchat: reaching the right people
In October I blogged about our first exploration of Snapchat as a tool to communicate and engage with people on the work of the Foreign Office. I signed off with a challenge to myself to understand how best to measure and evaluate our success on an app with very limited analytical capability and no website for […]
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1st December 2015 Beijing, China
UK-China leading the way on climate science
With COP21 meeting in Paris this week, and a recent announcement that we are on track to have the hottest year on record, it was timely that over 150 researchers from the UK and China gathered together to discuss advancements in climate science for the second annual science meeting of the Climate Science for Service […]
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30th November 2015 London, UK
A famous Scot in the FCO for St Andrews Day
Sir Fitzroy Maclean (1911-96) — a ‘true Maclean scion’ ‘A man of daring character, with Foreign Office training’: thus Winston Churchill perfectly summed up the glamorous and enigmatic Fitzroy Maclean, who combined the careers of diplomat, soldier, partisan, politician and writer. His talents — aided by personal charm and enviable contacts — enabled him to […]
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30th November 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Combating Fragility
The terror that stalked the music halls of Paris and the virus from Africa that reached the streets of Houston have something important in common. They both originated in fragile or failing states. Just as the refugees risking everything and the children facing famine are victims of this same fragility. The British Government published three […]
30th November 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
St Andrew’s Day in Russia
St Andrew’s Day will be celebrated in St Petersburg, Moscow and other cities across Russia on 30 November. Both Moscow and St Petersburg have hosted annual St Andrew’s Day balls for many years and will do so again this year. The Scotland and Russia relationship is full of rich history and culture dating back over […]
30th November 2015 Mumbai, India
India-UK collaboration in intellectual property
Last month, Neil Feinson and Andrew Davidson, both from the International Policy Directorate of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO), visited India – Mumbai, Chennai, and New Delhi. We met with representatives of government, industry, and society to discuss how India and the UK could collaborate in the increasingly important area of IP rights. Herein, […]
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30th November 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
ST ANDREW’S DAY: MUSIC FOR THE WORLD
One of the best things about the job of British Ambassador is being able to celebrate not only the UK as a whole, but also individually Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Today, as I look out of my window at the Saltire, the Scottish flag flying proudly alongside the Union Flag, I am full […]
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30th November 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Belgrade Barometer
This week the OSCE moves south with its 57 national delegations from Vienna to Belgrade, capital city of our 2015 Chair-in-Office Serbia, to await the arrival of our 57 government representatives for the annual Ministerial Council. The event may not make the headlines like NATO or EU Foreign Ministers. There will be no high profile […]
30th November 2015
Celebrating St. Andrew, Scotland in Rome
The celebration of the Feast Day of the apostle St Andrew, brother of St Peter, is one of the high points in the Scots College year. It is an opportunity to invite many friends in the city, as well as some from home, to join the community in celebrating both the College and Scotland. The […]
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30th November 2015
Scotland the Brave … and Innovative
Today is St Andrew’s Day, when Scotland celebrates its Patron Saint. It’s a day for all of us Scots to mark Scotland’s contribution to the UK and indeed to the wider world. The American author, Arthur Herman, published a book a few years ago entitled “How the Scots invented the Modern World”. His focus was […]