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?
23rd November 2014 Chennai, India
Why I’ll be wearing orange on 25 November
I’ve spent most of my career working on Africa and its issues. It’s a beautiful, resilient, inspiring continent. The people are simply extraordinary. But I’ve also seen first-hand the prevalence of violence against women there. That’s true in conflict – in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and most recently as Ambassador to the Central […]
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23rd November 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
The Bulgarians' Sense of Humour
by John Cloake John Cloake is a former British Ambassador to Bulgaria (1976-1980). When a few months ago we invited him to contribute to the 100 Years UK in BG blog, John came back to us saying that he holds “many good memories of Bulgaria” and that he has always thought that the British Ambassador’s Residence in Sofia was […]
21st November 2014 Madrid, Spain
My blog looking ahead to next week’s important conference on the #Holocaust
On Monday the Embassy will be taking part in an important international colloquium here in Madrid, organised by the Centro Sefarad-Israel. You can find more details here. We are participating on behalf of the British Government, and in the UK’s capacity as Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance this year. The IHRA is a […]
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21st November 2014 Mumbai, India
UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Robin Grimes visits India
Earlier this week, Prof. Robin Grimes, FCO’s Chief Scientific Adviser visited Mumbai. I accompanied him for meetings at the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), and finally, Larsen & Toubro (L&T). This is what he thought… My first meeting was with Dr. R K Sinha, […]
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20th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
World leaders linger in Australia
A number of the world leaders who came to Australia for the Brisbane G20 stayed on afterwards for formal Guest of Government visits, taking in several different states, including Tasmania. I suspect by the end of this week Australians, and particularly Canberrans, were getting pretty blasé about having Presidents and Prime Ministers in town. In the course […]
20th November 2014 Havana, Cuba
Diplomacy: time for a revolution?
A lot of people call me ‘Your Excellency’. Some do so nervously, clearly uncomfortable as they shake my hand, unsure how they should greet me. On one occasion a guest to a reception, perhaps confused by my regal bearing, even curtsied to me! All this comes with the job. And calling an ambassador ‘Your Excellency’ […]
20th November 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
The experience of being black in the UK and around the world
The First Secretary for Prosperity at the British Embassy in Brazil, NneNne Iwuji-eme, made a speech this week at the Fundação Escola de Sociologia in São Paulo during lectures about racial relations in Brazil and the UK. Since today is Black Awareness Day in Brazil, we would like to share her speech with you: The subject of […]
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20th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
With Caritas supporting child migrants
I was delighted this week to be able to have taken part in a podcast interview at Vatican Radio, organised by Caritas Internationalis, on child migrants. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an important international Convention that the United Kingdom signed in 1990 and […]
20th November 2014 London, UK
As G20 President, Turkey has an unparalleled opportunity
2015 will be a big year for the United Kingdom in Turkey. Our countries will stand together in Canakkale in April to mark the sacrifice our troops made when we were enemies on the battlefield one hundred years ago. As Allies today, our troops have served alongside each other in NATO missions around the world. […]
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19th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
THREE BISHOPS AND A PASTORAL FRATERNITY
Over the last few weeks I have been reminded of the significance of the churches in Turks and Caicos to so many people here. I had the good fortune to meet no less than three bishops – from the Church of God of Prophesy, Anglican and Catholic – who were visiting Grand Turk or Providenciales, […]
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