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?
11th May 2015 Chicago, USA
Sharing Sustainability
In February the British Consulate in Chicago decamped to Minneapolis for a week in order to increase our engagement in the Twin Cities. A week-long series of events focused on trade, investment, and science. We worked with the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment to bring together local researchers, businesses and students to talk […]
11th May 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Becoming our man in Geneva
Grahame Greene’s novel about Geneva ignores it, focusing instead on the nasty foibles of the very rich. And if they mention it at all, modern novelists writing about Geneva use the UN at best as a backdrop for international intrigue but more often as a metaphor for international impotence. For someone preparing to take up […]
8th May 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Counting the votes: Houghton & Sunderland South (formerly Sunderland South)
By the time you are reading this, we will know the results of the general election in Britain. I expect that I will have stayed up all night to learn about the results because I love elections. I find them fascinating – especially how different areas vote. I shall probably have waited impatiently for news […]
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7th May 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Triumph and Tragedy: remembering World War II – Guest post by Jon Sharp, Consul General in Ekaterinburg
A number of military anniversaries are being celebrated at the moment. Earlier this month there were striking images from the centenary of the Gallipoli landings. I’m sure there will be similar scenes throughout the period leading to 2018 and the centenary of the ending of World War I. In Russia we have been marking the […]
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5th May 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Remembrance
It is rather poignant that the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day – 8 May 1945, the day that World War II in Europe officially ended – falls the day after the British General Election. It reminds us of the fundamental reason why Britain went to war in 1939, reluctantly but determinedly; to […]
30th April 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Local History – Краеведение
Local history – Soviet heritage… I recently visited some places in Belarus for the first time. The most striking was the tower of Kamianets, one of several strongholds built by the rulers of the Volhynia principality in the 13th century to protect their northern border. It is one of the few medieval remains in Belarus. […]
29th April 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
RAISING THE FAMILY ISLANDS’ PROFILE
There can be few more enjoyable occupations on a Saturday morning than strolling along Grand Turk’s Front Street, past some of the exquisite old buildings like the wonderfully named “Ebenezer” 7th Day Adventist Church and the 19th century home which now houses the national museum. These great reminders of Grand Turk’s history are all set […]
28th April 2015 London, UK
Guest blog by Shahida Khan, Business and Human Rights Policy Officer, on business efficient flexible working
The FCO is a strong supporter of business efficient flexible working, and extends this right to all its employees. Flexible working takes many forms – compressed hours, flexible hours, job shares and remote working are a few of the more common examples. The Human Rights and Democracy Department (HRDD) is widely recognised as one part of […]
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28th April 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
100 years since Gallipoli: Ceylon’s role remembered
On Saturday 25 April, I laid a wreath at the Borella Kanatta Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Colombo, at one of the two events organised that day by the Australian High Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Allied landings at Gallipoli during the First World War. It was an opportunity to reflect again […]
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27th April 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Video-blog of Carolyn Browne
The next video-blog of Carolyn Browne, British Ambassador to Kazakhstan is about UK sports.