8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
17th September 2015 Chennai, India
5 reasons you should think about working for the UK in India
I’m always conscious that working for my government is a privilege, even if I’ll never become rich as a British civil servant. And working in India – on most days – is an absolute blast, not least because of the incredible team across India that I get to work with. Being a dynamic and growing […]
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17th September 2015 London, UK
Twitter: To Engage or Not to Engage
I was not an early adopter of twitter. I wondered what I would have to say of interest, and was suspicious of the time it would take. Apprehensively, I sent my first tweet the night I presented my credentials as High Commisioner in Nairobi. Three and a half years later, I am a convert. If […]
17th September 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam
Civil Society in Vietnam
Tuesday was International Day of Democracy, and the global theme chosen by the UN was “Making Space for Civil Society”. We took this literally, and made some space at my house in Hanoi for civil society representatives and activists to come and talk about the changing landscape for civil society in Vietnam, the opportunities and […]
16th September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Turning 30
I hope you had a good break. Those wise enough to spend their holidays in or around these parts will be coming back to the Council re-energised from the unusually long hot summer we’ve had this year. To my family’s bemusement, I opted to spend our holidays caravanning in the slightly more inclement weather which […]
16th September 2015 Istanbul, Turkey
A Better Future For Syria: Chevening 2015
You may well have heard of the Chevening Scholarships Programme. Every year, the British government awards them to people we judge to be outstanding established or emerging leaders, to continue their further education. Competition for scholarships is fierce, so fierce I very much doubt I would have got one were I to have applied back in the […]
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16th September 2015
The Papal Visit, five years on
It is already five years since the historic visit of Emeritus Pope Benedict to England and Scotland. Shortly after David Cameron won the 2010 General Election, he asked me if I would co-ordinate government support for this visit. I agree on three conditions to which he readily acceded. First, I said that the Catholic hierarchy […]
15th September 2015 Berlin, Germany
Science and ceramics in Saxony
Saxony is a German state that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. And so it was good that Martin Donnelly, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills, decided to take a trip there in September to find out more about how Saxony does science and vocational training […]
15th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Everyday Democracy
15 September is the International Day of Democracy. Democracy is of course too important to think about only once a year – everyone should have a fair say in how their lives are governed. But for anyone who has grown up in an established democracy, it is easy to take for granted the right to […]
15th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
International Day of Democracy: Space for Civil Society
“Democracy” can be defined as a universal value based on the freely-expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives. For countries to build successful and stable democracies, the existence of a strong and freely operating civil society is crucial. […]
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15th September 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
International Day of Democracy
On 15 September each year the UN and its member countries observe the International Day of Democracy. Following last year’s military coup in Thailand the UK and other members of the international community, including the Secretary-General of the UN, called for the early restoration of democracy. That seems even further away now than it did […]