Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

11th February 2014 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

GB United – Videoton Friendly Football Match

Guest Blog by Ben Luckock, Head of Policy Team at British Embassy Budapest Just over sixty years ago Hungary beat England 6-3 at Wembley. For England, the defeat led to a fundamental review of antiquated training and tactics and the adoption of more continental methods. Sir Bobby Robson said of the game: “We saw a […]

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11th February 2014 Paris, France

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by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

Celebrating London and Paris, past and future

"Transforming cities, transforming lives" logo - Event at the Residence, 13 February 2014

We are now in the Bicentenary year for the Residence – 200 years ago, the Duke of Wellington bought this house from Pauline, the sister of Napoléon. To celebrate that, we are running a series of events through the year, highlighting both the past and the future of UK-French relations.

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11th February 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

The Legacy of Benedict XVI

Much is likely to be written over the next few days about the legacy of Pope Benedict, a year since he announced he would be stepping down from office. No doubt many will be ready with their “compare and contrast” pieces, setting up one Pope against the other. Whatever we think of that approach, I […]

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10th February 2014 Madrid, Spain

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by Daniel Pruce

British Ambassador to the Philippines and to Palau

Diplomacy in the community

The Embassy moved into the Torre Espacio, in the North of Madrid, a few years ago. One of the benefits of moving here was to find ourselves as neighbours to La Paz Hospital – one of the best public sector hospitals in Spain. Over the years we have got to know the hospital well. Since […]

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10th February 2014 Mumbai, India

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by Sheryl Anchan

Science and Innovation Adviser

Cool ties between India and the UK

I was privileged to attend an event at IISER Pune, late October last year, focused on the importance of academia-industry partnerships, the barriers that come in the way of such partnerships and possible solutions. I gave an overview of the existing UK-India innovation partnerships and the different funding schemes in place to help augment such […]

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9th February 2014 Sana’a, Yemen

Jane Marriott, British Ambassador to Yemen

by Jane Marriott

British Ambassador to Yemen

PROGRESS WILL BE PERSONAL

Every Yemeni and their international friends know that the real test of Yemen’s political transition process will be whether it improves the lives of most Yemenis. Progress won’t happen overnight: significant structural reforms are needed and corruption needs to be tackled before there are real improvements. Life in Yemen is tough: in 2005, 18% of […]

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9th February 2014 Tripoli, Libya

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by Nicholas Hopton

Head of UK Embassy to Libya

Brits Don’t Do Culture – Or Do They?

When I first arrived in Doha last July, I was verging on the sceptical when I heard about the Qatar/UK 2013 Year of Culture. It didn’t sound particularly British, despite our popular cultural icons and their global reach. I’m as proud of James Bond, JK Rowling and One Direction as anyone, but when it comes […]

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7th February 2014 Pretoria, South Africa

by Judith Macgregor

British High Commissioner to South Africa

The Queen’s baton relay in Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa – In a week!

South Africa is never dull but this last week and the week to follow will test both the physical and mental stamina of the UK Family here. We kicked off on Wednesday with a youth engagement event at the High Commission to encourage support and interest in next week’s International Conference in London against Illegal […]

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7th February 2014

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

Poniendo fin al contrabando

La próxima semana en Costa Rica las Embajadas Británicas en la región de Centroamérica  se reunirán para recibir una conferencia abordando el tema de Contrabando. Expertos y autoridades de toda la región (Guatemala, Honduras, El salvador, Panamá, Belice, Nicaragua y por supuesto Costa Rica) nos reuniremos para discutir de este tema fundamentalmente fronterizo. En las […]

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