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
28th October 2015 Khartoum
Women, Peace and Security: 15 years on
One of the privileges of being a woman in Sudan has been in being welcomed into the homes of families and spending time with other women. During one of my trips to the North of Sudan, my husband and I were welcomed into a family house near Kerma and as normal I joined the women […]
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28th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award-Türkiye
The student has achieved many immense things. But faced with the arrival of what some people call a VVIP, she is anxious. “What will I say?” she asks. “How is he like?” “Don’t worry,” we tell her. “He is enormously experienced and professional.” We recently had the privilege to welcome to Turkey His Royal Highness […]
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27th October 2015 Tripoli, Libya
On leaving Qatar…
As I complete my time as UK Ambassador in Qatar, I am delighted to see that the historic friendship between Qatar and the UK is now stronger than ever – and set to strengthen even more in the coming years. This is a partnership in it’s true sense. It covers defence, foreign policy, culture, education, […]
26th October 2015 Washington DC, USA
Leaning In To Gender Equality
The UK has a long history of women who have broken barriers and blazed trails for the next generation. From Her Majesty the Queen to Emmeline Pankhurst. From Margaret Thatcher to Anita Roddick. This list goes on. This week is the beginning of a world-wide effort by the UK Foreign Office to mark the contributions […]
26th October 2015 London, UK
Words into Action; Promoting Women’s Leadership
I attended the United Nations General Assembly this year and was struck by the breadth of events designed to promote and protect women’s rights. There were celebrations to mark 20 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the best international blueprint for realising women’s rights. We also reaffirmed our commitment […]
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26th October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Tempus Fugit
I am now in the last three months of my posting to Belarus. The time has passed very quickly. I’m suddenly confronting the need to finish things or put them in order for my successor. I’ve also realised that I haven’t done some things I wanted to do, or been to places that I wanted […]
23rd October 2015 London, UK
Here today, gone tomorrow… But see you again soon
Approximately 50% of users 18 or under. Real-time images and videos that disappear once viewed. Messages that only allow 37 characters of text. At first glance Snapchats vital statistics do not appear the ideal fit as tool to communicate the nuances of diplomacy but its relentless growth encouraged some further examination. Like the channel itself […]
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23rd October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
UK Export Finance: Providing Credit to Turkey
Everyone needs credit. Especially businesses. So it is important that UK Export Finance (UKEF), the oldest credit agency in the world, is over here and doing business in Turkey. In fact, UKEF has just concluded its first direct lending facility inTurkey. The loan, worth €23.6m, will be used to build a gas-fired power plant in […]
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21st October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Against Extremism
The United Kingdom is built on values like democracy, respect and tolerance. These unite the nation, and help our society develop and thrive. They are supported by the overwhelming majority of people in our country. But these values have become challenged and threatened in recent years in an unprecedented way, by extremists seeking to spread […]
21st October 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Two Hundred Years in Search of a Cup of Tea: Diplomacy 1815-2015
Each week I take the UK seat at the OSCE Permanent Council in the Hofburg, imposing former Hapsburg imperial seat, where I recently read, the 1815 Congress of Vienna ‘danced the night away, 200 years ago, shaping post-Napoleonic Europe almost as an afterthought’. History records an impressive social whirl around the lengthy negotiations. 201 years […]
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