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
25th May 2014 Havana, Cuba
Cuba, England needs you!
Next month the World Cup kicks off in Brazil and billions of football fans, including millions of Cubans, will be watching it. The last and only time Cuba made it to the finals was in 1938 in France when they beat Rumania in the first round and then lost heavily to Sweden (8-0 – ouch!) […]
24th May 2014 Beirut, Lebanon
An Apology, and a Lebanese Manifesto
Today I visited the Presidential Palace to thank President Sleiman for his leadership. Throughout his mandate he has led Lebanon with great dignity and wisdom, and worked tirelessly for unity and consensus. He has just left the building. In theory, a new President should be preparing to arrive, making the last adjustments to his or […]
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23rd May 2014 London, UK
We should trust Ukrainians to make the right choice in Sunday’s elections
Ukraine is trying to find democratic solutions to the challenges it faces, and the international community must give it time to do so Trust in the ability of people to make decisions about their own future is a fundamental tenet of democracy. On Sunday, the citizens of Ukraine go to the polls to elect a […]
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23rd May 2014 Budapest, Hungary
Elections again – this time it is about Europe
Guest blog by Zsolt Maróti, Senior Domestic Policy Officer at the British Embassy in Budapest. The first EP elections were held in 1979 with the participation of nine member states. This time between 22 and 25 May some 400 million Europeans from 28 countries are eligible to cast their votes and elect a new […]
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23rd May 2014 London, UKMadrid, Spain
Are you free on the evening of 27 May? Do you want to help end sexual violence?
We will be screening the documentary, “War on Women” at the Caixa Forum in Madrid on 27 May. Entrance is free but you have to register with us. This link gives you all the details. “War on Women” is a powerful film by Argentinian director Hernan Zin. It tells the personal stories of several women, […]
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22nd May 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 12-18 May 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-12-18-may-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 12-18 May 2014″ on Storify]
22nd May 2014 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 5-11 May 2014
Trouble reading this story or moving through pages? Check it out on Storify here: https://storify.com/SINCanada/canadian-science-news-5-11-may-2014 [View the story ” Canadian science news: 5-11 May 2014″ on Storify]
22nd May 2014 Paris, France
Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict – the view from Paris
For far too long, rape and sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war, particularly against women. It makes conflict worse, it prolongs the effects of conflict, and it makes reconciliation far more difficult. Two years ago my Foreign Secretary William Hague, working with Angelina Jolie, who is the UN Special Envoy on these […]
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22nd May 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Pope’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land: bearing fruit
One of the most extraordinary aspects of Pope Francis’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land on 24-26 May is how it has started to bear fruit even before it has begun. Sadly, the lands that he will be visiting – the crucible for some of the most intractable conflicts in human history – are not known […]
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22nd May 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Keeping up Appearances at the High Commission
Hyacinth Bucket came to dinner last night. Well actually it was actress Patricia Routledge CBE. In a distinguished career she has done everything from the Royal Shakespeare Company to Broadway musicals and Coronation Street. But it was as the socially pretentious Hyacinth Bucket (“pronounced Bouquet”) that she really became a household name around the world. […]
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