8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
25th March 2014 Paris, France
Digital revolution at the Residence
In the last few days we’ve had two events here in the residence on the theme of the digital revolution and how it’s changing our lives. First of all we had an event to celebrate innovation and technology and young talent applying itself to the problems we are facing.
25th March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Moment of truth
Every Council delegate will know what a strain the March session can put on your family life. Things have got so bad that I’m now considering looking for a new wife. It’s not for me though. My wife has got to the point that she’s told me she needs someone like her to help look […]
25th March 2014 San Francisco, USA
How GREAT is Innovation?
Earlier this month, the best and brightest minds in innovation, creative media, and tech landed in Austin for the annual SxSW conference and trade show. Every year I am impressed by the UK companies that attend SxSW, and this year was no different. My colleagues at the British Consulate in Houston support loads of UK […]
24th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Helping to preserve our reefs – because it is the right thing to do
The idea of volunteering, doing something for society without pay, took leaps forward during the Olympic Games at Sydney. Thousands of people worked for no pay to help man the Games, and provide help and guidance to the thousands of overseas visitors. I can remember meeting firemen and others who had given up a week’s […]
Read more on Helping to preserve our reefs – because it is the right thing to do | Reply (2)
24th March 2014 Warsaw, Poland
WHERE’S MY CHEESE? – The GREAT British Food Tour 2014 (part 8)
We’ve stopped for an afternoon smoke at the only remaining smoker on Anglesey. We’re talking award inning bacon, fish and eels. Well worth a look – smacznego! DeriMon – Anglesey’s only traditional Smokehouse DeriMon (translated from Welsh means ‘The Oaks of Anglesey’) – the name is derived from the fact that our property – Deri […]
Read more on WHERE’S MY CHEESE? – The GREAT British Food Tour 2014 (part 8) | Reply
24th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
“Digging for truth: the uses and abuses of language”
I was honoured to be invited to the Nobel Museum on Friday by my friend and colleague, the Irish Ambassador, James Carroll, to take part in a celebration of the life and work of the Nobel prize winning poet Seamus Heaney. The poem I chose to read was “Digging”, in which the young poet expresses […]
Read more on “Digging for truth: the uses and abuses of language” | Reply
24th March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Humanitarian crisis
Since mid-December, over 70,000 refugees from South Sudan have fled the violence there into the Gambella Region of Ethiopia, seeking to escape insecurity and a lack of food. The numbers are growing all the time. The UK Government is extremely concerned about this situation. This week I visited a new camp for refugees (currently known […]
24th March 2014 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Integration of Transferable Skills in TVET Curriculum Workshop
We have another guest blogger this month. Dr Paryono is the Deputy Director for Professional Affairs cum Research Specialist at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Regional Centre For Vocational and Technical Education and Training (SEAMEO VOCTECH) based in Brunei. Its workshop on the Integration of Transferable Skills in TVET Curriculum, Teaching-Learning, and Assessment […]
Read more on Integration of Transferable Skills in TVET Curriculum Workshop | Reply
23rd March 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How not to hold a referendum
The Crimean referendum of 16 March falls far below recognised international standards. To begin with, it is unconstitutional. Ukraine’s constitution clearly states that the status of any part of the country’s territory can only be changed as the result of a nationwide referendum. No one objected to the idea of a referendum as such. And […]
23rd March 2014 Warsaw, Poland
The GREAT British Sunday Lunch po Polsku
The GREAT British Sunday Lunch po Polsku Well I’m just back from a mega week long culinary trip round the UK and you know what I had a GREAT time tasting some pretty cool food. What matters is the ingredients and how you cook them. It’s not good enough to dismiss the Brits as having […]
Read more on The GREAT British Sunday Lunch po Polsku | Reply