3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
27th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Holy See as a global (soft) power
From time to time, I continue to receive queries from well-meaning people asking why we have an embassy to the Holy See. It’s not a nation state, they suggest. So what can our interests be? I would hope that regular readers of this blog or our twitter feed have a pretty good idea by now […]
27th November 2013 Mogadishu, Somalia
16 days of activism
I’d like to welcome you to my first blog as the UK Ambassador to Somalia. I have spent my first six months learning about this wonderful country and travelling to as many places as I can. As this week marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, I thought it was a perfect […]
27th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Rail Networking
Sir David Higgins is one of those Australians who have moved seamlessly between the two countries, holding top positions in each. In Australia he’s best known as former CEO of Lend Lease. In the UK he’s the man who played a hugely important role in the fantastic success of London 2012 as head of the Olympic […]
26th November 2013 Washington DC, USA
AmericanEnglish
For me, the transatlantic relationship is personal. 16 years ago on Sunday, my family and I (and our dog Matty) emigrated from Huntingdon, near Cambridge, to Chico, California. Of course, there are more extreme contrasts than the UK and California, but as a twelve year-old, everything was so different. When we moved in November 1997, […]
26th November 2013 Toronto, Canada
Canadian science news: 18-24 November 2013
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26th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Risk, enterprise and innovation
My business is all about risk. This may surprise readers – and I often get puzzled expressions when I say it. My job is to understand, assess and communicate the political risks of other countries and try to manage them so that they don’t damage my country’s interests. Risk is about the uncertainty of outcomes […]
26th November 2013 Madrid, Spain
Time to act
Yesterday, 25 November, the Embassy hosted a discussion of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). It was particularly appropriate that we did so yesterday, as it was the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. And the start of the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. I was very […]
26th November 2013 Bangalore, India
Engaging science and media
Last week I was lucky enough to spend three days listening to senior Indian journalists and scientists discuss how little the media covers Indian science, and how the coverage can be improved. The cause for these intense discussions were three consultation meetings we had organised, along with the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Research Councils […]
25th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guatemala y el Reino Unido: es tiempo de actuar!
El Reino Unido promueve la igualdad de género y aborda la violencia contra las mujeres y las niñas como una cuestión de principios. Por lo que, como parte de los 16 días de activismo contra la violencia de género, tenemos a Sara Del Cid, nuestra Oficial de Seguridad y Justicia, como invitada a nuestro blog. […]
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25th November 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guatemala and UK: it’s time to act!
The United Kingdom promotes gender equality and tackles violence against women and girls as a matter of principle. So, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence we have a guest blog from Sara Del Cid, our Security and Justice Officer. Over to you Sara… Since the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, launched […]