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
31st March 2014 Paris, France
Climate change is already happening
We’ve just had the publication of a major report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) – the UN authorised panel that is the most authoritative source of scientific advice – dealing with the impact of climate change on human beings and our environment.
31st March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Decoding the English Language: Sense and Sensibility
When I was learning Swedish in London I studied in a language training centre, where post pupils were European business men and women seeking to improve their English. While I tried to do my Swedish homework, my thoughts often strayed to what I could overhear of the classes in the neighbouring rooms. Hearing the teachers […]
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31st March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Coming to the surface
It’s hard to convey quite what it’s like to go through a March Council session. The four-week experience is a prolonged assault on the mind, body and soul and while the end of the session is a cause for elation it also feels distinctly post-traumatic. The process of stress-decompression and re-entering normal life needs to […]
31st March 2014 London, UK
A busy two weeks in Turkey
I was glad to get back home to Ankara on Saturday night, tired but happy, after two weeks on the road around Turkey. It had been a fascinating preceding fortnight. Perhaps you would allow me to share the highlights. The first of the two weeks was spent visiting our consulates around the coast in Antalya, […]
31st March 2014 Vientiane, Laos
March 2014 Monthly Snapshot
March 2014 Follow our Embassy’s team through our activities during the past month! Visit to Vientiane Province Our Embassy team made first contact with government officials in Vientiane Province and visited the Nam Ngum 1 Hydropower Plant site. Lord Puttnam’s visit Lord David Puttnam, Oscar-winning film producer and the UK Prime Ministers Trade Envoy for […]
29th March 2014 Sofia, Bulgaria
Reminiscences of Bulgaria's Commercial Scene in the 60s
by Bruce Beharell Bruce Beharell was a British businessman who spent a few years living and working in Bulgaria in the early 60s. He was the first commercial representative of a British company in Bulgaria after the WWII. “It was certainly a time in those early years of communism when you had to compartmentalise your brain […]
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29th March 2014 New York, USA
The UK Celebrates Equality in Marriage
Today, 29 March, will be a particularly significant wedding anniversary for many couples in years to come. Today, England and Wales join the list of countries that have full marriage equality, and scores of same-sex couples across the country are celebrating their new rights by getting hitched. By request of the Deputy Prime Minister, a […]
28th March 2014 USA
Beer!
There: I thought that would draw you in. What does it have to do with the UK economy though? Well, last week, the UK Chancellor presented the Government’s 2014 Budget. The annual Budget report and statement in Parliament offers an opportunity to take stock of the economic outlook and public finances, while making some policy […]
28th March 2014 London, UK
Marking the Foreign Secretary’s 200,000 twitter follower
This week the Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed student Gopal Rao to the Foreign Office. The meeting was the result of a competition launched by the Foreign Secretary earlier in the year to thank his 200,000 Twitter followers for their comments, engagement and ideas. The prize – a meeting with him and the chance to […]
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28th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
New Australian Governor General
I was in Parliament this morning for the swearing-in of the new Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, the much-decorated soldier and former Chief of the Defence Force. It was a solemn and symbolic occasion, but the speeches afterwards were warm and full of good humour. Sir Peter quoted Wellington, the famous British general turned statesman. […]