17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
18th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
GOV.UK more than OK
Britain is one of the most advanced digital economies in the world. The British Government’s Chief Technology Officer, Liam Maxwell, was in Canberra this week to brief Australian ministers and officials on some of the latest developments in the UK. He described how all of the many different departmental websites had moved successfully onto a […]
17th June 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 9-15 June 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-9-15-june-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 9-15 June 2014″ on Storify]
17th June 2014 Paris, France
Joint training for young Franco-British Diplomats
I think one of the most important parts of my job as ambassador is to make sure that the links between Britain and France are continuing into the next generation.
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17th June 2014 New Delhi, India
3D printing – the future of manufacturing?
Additive Manufacturing (also known as direct-digital-manufacture, generative manufacture or 3D Printing) is one of the most exciting emergent technologies available to global industry today, allowing companies to manufacture ever more complex and optimized products and components at very low unit volumes. 3D Printing has taken the media by storm, causing a mixture of knowing nods, […]
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17th June 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
The First British Ambassador to Bulgaria
by Christine Day Christine Day is the daughter of the first British Ambassador to Bulgaria Sir William Harpham (1964-1966), who presented his credentials as an Ambassador in a cold January day in 1964. Christine’s story is a recollection of this day. Christine Day was a special guest at the Queen’s Birthday Party 2014 that took place […]
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16th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Say no to Sexual Violence
The use of sexual violence in war is one of the great injustices of our lifetime. It is hard to document, let alone investigate. Perpetrators do not discriminate, because it’s not about sex, but violence, terror, power and control. When rape is committed during conflict, it has often been seen as an inevitable part of […]
16th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Digamos no a la violencia sexual
El uso de la violencia sexual en las guerras es una de las mayores injusticias de nuestro tiempo. Se trata de un fenómeno difícil de documentar y más difícil aún de investigar. Sus autores no discriminan porque en definitiva, no se trata de sexo, sino de violencia, de terror, de poder y de control. Cuando […]
16th June 2014 British High Commission, Kingston, Jamaica
“Go de R**s to sleep…” & other memories of Calabash
I have been to literary festivals in the UK – usually in rain soaked parts of England. This was my first time at Calabash. Jamaica’s biannual literary event is more than a festival. And also less. It is two and a half days of readings, interviews and performances by Caribbean and non-Caribbean writers set against […]
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16th June 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Bursting at the Seams
The Human Rights Council is getting too big for its trousers. I know how this feels as I have had to buy a new more spacious suit recently. June sessions used to start slowly, simmer in the second week and come nicely to the boil in week three. But this year week one has begun […]
13th June 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Celebrating the Queen’s Birthday with the Governor General
Australia’s new Governor General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, is clearly enjoying his role. He gave a very warm speech at a dinner in Canberra last night, hosted by the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Australia Britain Society (of which I am the Patron) to celebrate the birthday of HM The Queen. The Governor General used the […]
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