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 January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Honduras – Running the show
This week I represented the UK at the Presidential inauguration in Honduras. From a personal perspective – or let’s say from one diplomat to another – I marvelled at how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed to handle delegations from over 90 countries and make sure that we were all in the right place at […]
31st January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Fusion
Many Belarusians ask me about cooking in Britain. I’ve resisted writing about it so far, but next week the embassy will take part in the Minsk international Book Fair for the first time. We want to convey a better understanding of contemporary Britain. One of the themes we will feature is cooking. Britain hasn’t been […]
31st January 2014 Vientiane, Laos
January 2014 Monthly Snapshot
January 2014 Look what we have been busy with at the Embassy this month! Happy New Year! The British Embassy Vientiane launched into the New Year with an ambitious agenda as an already established and settled diplomatic mission, full of plans for high-level work in 2014. LGBT rights success! Anan Bouapha, UK in Laos […]
31st January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Defence Advisers
Last night the Defence Minister and a range of other senior defence figures came to dinner at my residence, Westminster House. They joined us to bid farewell to my Defence Adviser, Brigadier Will Taylor, at the end of his tour in Canberra. They enjoyed supping from my range of British ales, including Spitfire and Bombadier. […]
30th January 2014 Budapest, Hungary
Top 10 Public Diplomacy Achievements in 2013 at the British Embassy in Budapest
1. GREAT Campaign: Innovation is GREAT, Formula 1 Grand Prix campaign As part of the Central Europe Network’s GREAT campaign, we organised a high profile programme for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The campaign comprised of bringing a vintage London double decker bus to the race circuit to serve as a special venue for business meetings. […]
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30th January 2014 Paris, France
The UK-France Summit 2014
This week we are holding the next in a series of summits between Britain and France, with President Hollande travelling to the UK. The summit is being held on an airbase in the south of England to emphasise the importance of the defence and security work that we do together.
30th January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance at the Vatican
The UK is one of 31 members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), an intergovernmental body born in 1998 to expand Holocaust education worldwide, and to secure political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance and research both nationally and internationally. In February this year we will take over the rotating […]
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30th January 2014 Windhoek, Namibia
A touch of the Highlands in the desert: The Commonwealth Queen’s baton comes to Namibia
The Queen’s Commonwealth baton has just spent a fun two days in Namibia as part of its journey through 70 of the world’s Commonwealth countries on its way to the start of the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July. The British High Commission was delighted to play a part in the festivities in its […]
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30th January 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Learning about the Falkland Islands
Unsurprisingly, most Australians don’t know much about the Falkland Islands, so visiting Legislative Assembly member Mike Summers faced lots of questions during his trip to Melbourne this week. At 51 degrees south, it’s further south than Australia, and is often perceived as being almost polar. But maps can be deceptive. In the northern hemisphere the […]
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29th January 2014 Ottawa, Canada
Reshore Britain: bringing manufacturing home
As a Brit abroad, one of the most frustrating urban myths I hear about the British economy is “Britain doesn’t really make stuff anymore does it?” Isn’t your economy based on the services industry, high tech, financial services etc?
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