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14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
17th September 2015 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 24 August-13 September 2015
Want to receive this newsletter in your inbox as soon as it’s compiled? Join our mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/30qLH Our weekly wrap-up of science news in Canada, 24 August-13 September 2015: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-24-august-13-september-2015
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17th September 2015 London, UK
International Democracy Day and Launch of Magna Carta Partnerships
On UN International Democracy Day 2015, I was delighted to host an event to launch the FCO’s first human rights initiative of this Parliament: Magna Carta Partnerships, a new agile fund to deploy British legal and parliamentary expertise to help reinvigorate global support for democracy and rule of law. In this 800th anniversary of the […]
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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 […]