9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
14th October 2025
Lost and Found (but mostly lost)
18th June 2015 Jerusalem, Israel
A Palestinian Magna Carta
What should be in a Palestinian Magna Carta or bill of rights? I asked this question earlier this week to twenty young Palestinians, during a discussion to mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. Two things struck me about their answers. Firstly, most of the participants wanted one freedom above all others. […]
17th June 2015 Ottawa, Canada
#ClimateDiploDay: Working together to tackle climate change
Right across the globe, diplomats, citizens, scientists, artists and policy-makers are gathering and speaking with unanimity: climate change is a real challenge…
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16th June 2015 Havana, Cuba
What would Karl Marx have thought about the internet?
I’ve written before about how more internet access for more Cubans is likely to spur economic growth so the rollout of the internet to more parts of the country is welcome. New internet cafes have been opened – although they are still relatively expensive – and wifi is being provided in a few parks in Trinidad, […]
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16th June 2015 Oslo, Norway
Celebrating Historic Documents
By HM Ambassador Sarah Gillett I arrived in Norway last year a couple of months after the 200th anniversary of Norway’s 1814 constitution. But the significance of the occasion reverberated long after 17 May 2014. And last week it was wonderful to witness Eidsvoll, where the constitution was signed, receive one of the prestigious Europa […]
16th June 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Church and Magna Carta
On 15 June we celebrated the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. It is extraordinary how a document agreed in 1215 between a medieval English king and his leading subjects continues to resonate down the ages, wherever people believe in the rule of law. I recently wrote an article trying to set Magna Carta in its proper […]
16th June 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
800 years of the Magna Carta and Human Rights today
For centuries, the Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in England in 1215, has been quoted to help promote human rights and alleviate suffering all around the world. This week, we are celebrating its 800th anniversary, and its continuing relevance today. To mark the anniversary, my colleagues at the UK Mission in Geneva hosted a […]
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15th June 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Celebrating Magna Carta
The Magna Carta is 800 years old on 15 June 2015. It is impressive that such an old document should continue to inspire individuals and societies around the world. The principles it enshrines – equality before the law, limits to the arbitrary exercise of power, due and fair process for citizens – are timeless and […]
15th June 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Romanian stories in Britain (V) Ion Paciu: ‘I love London, I miss it so much when I’m away’
I moved to the UK 12 years ago. I lived outside of London for a while before moving to London after 3 years. My integration into the British community was bumpy at first as I didn’t speak English at all. Somehow I made it, and now I am a photographer and at the same time I run a private school of photography in central London. This is […]
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15th June 2015 Yerevan, Armenia
Marking 800 years of #MagnaCarta
Today all across the UK and in Embassies around the world we celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta (latin for ‘Great Charter’). In 1215, rebellious barons marched on London, fed up with King John constantly raising taxes to pay for his disastrous wars in France. The barons forced the King […]
15th June 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Politics and power: Why the Magna Carta is still a burning issue
A bunch of English barons challenge the King for power and seize London. To make peace, the King agrees a legal document. But he then asks the Pope repeal it – which the Pope does, declaring it “null and void of all validity forever”. War erupts; the King dies; and a nine-month-old boy becomes head […]
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