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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
7th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
British comedy fits the Bill
Australians and Brits share a very similar sense of humour. The much loved comedian, musician and self-styled hippy Bill Bailey is well known here from his Black Books sitcom and appearances on many panel shows like QI. He came to lunch at my Residence on Saturday before performing a sell-out show in Canberra as part […]
4th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Britain’s Most Frequent Royal Visitor to Ethiopia
Her Royal Highness (HRH) the Princess Royal spent three days in Ethiopia last week – her fourth visit to the country, the first having been in 1974. And once again HRH made a considerable impact, visiting not just Addis Ababa but also projects in Adama and South Sudanese refugees in Gambella. HRH was here primarily […]
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3rd October 2014 Brasilia, Brazil
Meanwhile in Geneva… (UNHRC 27th session and SOGI resolution)
While there has been much debate around LGB&T rights (a.k. lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights) in Brazil because of the coming elections and the different position of the Presidential candidates regarding this topic, a historic achievement was secured at the UN Human Rights Council. Brazil and other Latin American countries were in the forefront […]
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3rd October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
CONSITUTIONAL CHANGE: TURKS AND CAICOS STYLE
The advantage of a holiday, and a short break from the day to day demands of work, is that it provides a great opportunity to look at things from a different perspective. I was fortunate enough to get away for a couple of weeks recently to Hong Kong and the UK. In Hong Kong we […]
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3rd October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Consent
Political life has been fascinating in the last few weeks in Britain. I was lucky enough to be in London in mid-September and watched, listened and read lots from the British media about the Scottish referendum. Like any good contest, the outcome was not certain. There was lively debate and on the day, a high […]
2nd October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Order! Order!
I think two Speakers make a stereo system. There was certainly a high fidelity exchange when Australian Parliament Speaker Bronwyn Bishop hosted the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in Canberra this week. Speaker Bercow is a familiar face around the world from TV coverage of the famous weekly Prime Minister’s Question Time. […]
2nd October 2014 London, UK
Digital Week at the FCO
Last week, the FCO held its first ever Digital Week: a concentrated effort to show our staff how digital tools and technologies can transform our policy-making, service delivery and communications. We organised a busy programme of talks, masterclasses, digital clinics and competitions, delivered both in our London HQ and around our global network. So what […]
1st October 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Back to the future
I don’t get much time to read any books of my own these days. With two young children, most of the literature that comes my way tends either to have sparkly shapes, no more than about 10 words a page or contain clearly accessible lessons in morality. Which makes them the exact opposite of Human […]
1st October 2014 Paris, France
#HeforShe
The British actress Emma Watson is a UN Ambassador for women’s issues and she made her first speech at the UN a few days ago, launching a campaign on gender equality. I think she put her finger on a very important point, which is that gender equality is not a woman’s issue, it’s a man’s […]
1st October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Scotland The Wise
Three weeks ago the Economist’s front cover pictured a drooping Union Jack with the headline: UK RIP? Fortunately the dismemberment of the United Kingdom didn’t happen. Scots voted by a 10% margin to retain the union. But it was a close run thing. If the campaign for independence had been successful, the impact of Scotland […]