17th July 2025
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
15th July 2025
International Day of Women in Diplomacy: UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls visit to Geneva
1st May 2025
The UN Commission on the Status of Women: My first visit as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls
12th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Romanian Revolution through British Eyes/ Bernard Marshall: ‘Two days of the Romanian Christmas Revolution in December 1989’ (Chapter I)
‘December 21st – 10.30 am on Palace Square, Bucharest “Please move back “, said the tall Securitate official. Three diplomats moved back a few steps onto the now empty square. “I asked you to move – please move back “, he ordered again – in surprisingly refined and clear English. He was wearing a long […]
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12th December 2014 Skopje, North Macedonia
Education: Macedonia 2035 – the view from Mavrovo
Since I arrived in Macedonia, many people have spoken to me (usually with enthusiasm, though sometimes rather wistfully) about the role of Wilton Park in 2008 in helping to establish parliamentary procedures here. I have often been asked why we haven’t, given the success of the 2008 conference, done more Wilton Park events for Macedonia. […]
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12th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Real rights for real people
This week I was in Khon Kaen, to attend the 7th Annual Isaan Human Rights Festival. The festival was jointly held at Khon Kaen and Ubon Ratchathani Universities on 10 December, in recognition of “International Human Rights Day”, and was attended by a wide range of local community activists, as well as diplomatic colleagues from […]
12th December 2014 Gaborone, Botswana
International Anti-Corruption Day
December 9 is International Anti-Corruption Day and last week Transparency International released its annual Perceptions of Corruption report. So it seems a good moment to reflect on corruption. What is it, actually? Why does it matter? And what should our response be? Transparency International defines corruption simply as “the abuse of entrusted power for private […]
11th December 2014 Montreal, Canada
Looking up : Canada and the UK on route to the stars !
I am not taking credits for this wonderful blog – only for my limited driving skills to the Canadian Space Agency and as photographer. This blog was written by my new colleague and blogger Anne Cécile Dequen CG’s assistant and trade associate in Montreal. Conquering space is more valid today than ever. Indeed, space represents a fertile ground to […]
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11th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Romanian Revolution through British Eyes/ Richard Morris: ‘Awakening Romania’
The calm before December 1989 is as memorable to me as experiencing the revolution itself. Roll back a year to November 1988 and my arrival in a city blanketed by ice, snow and grey slush. More horse and carts on the airport road than cars and an introduction to faded and frozen communist grandeur through […]
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11th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What Advice Do Investors Get on Bulgaria?
As British Ambassador I am asked almost as often by Bulgarians what I say about their country to investors, as I am asked by investors what I think about Bulgaria. I answer the same to both: a wonderful country, with real potential and excellent people, but some big problems, particularly in the rule of law […]
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10th December 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
16 Days of Activism – A guest blog by Mariana Almeida
On November 25, 1960, three sisters were killed because they opposed the Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican’s Republic. The sisters grew up in a rural area and watched their family lose their house and all their money during the “Era of Trujillo”. Las Mariposas, as they were known, founded an opposition group to the […]
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10th December 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 24 November-7 December 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-24-november-7-december-2014 [View the story “Canadian science news: 24 November-7 December 2014” on Storify]
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10th December 2014 London, UK
Human Rights 365
Today is international Human Rights day; a day to celebrate the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. We should all take a moment to think about the rights that everyone in the world deserves, no matter where in the world they happen to be born. Many of us don’t see firsthand […]