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?
29th August 2019 Vienna, Austria
After three years, more #keenonWien than ever
Today I celebrate my three-year anniversary in Vienna. A lot has happened since I stepped off the train from London (via Salzburg) in August 2016. Together with my team at the Embassy we have have done a lot of work on Brexit – including doing our best to make sure that all 11,000 Brits in […]
Read more on After three years, more #keenonWien than ever | Reply
28th August 2019 Skopje, North Macedonia
Poetry, education, diverse cultures and traditions – my first visit to Struga
As much as I enjoy living and working in Skopje, it’s always a great pleasure when I get to visit other places across the country. Last week I had the honour of attending the opening of the Struga Poetry Festival, the world’s oldest consecutive running poetry festival. It was moving to hear poets from around […]
Read more on Poetry, education, diverse cultures and traditions – my first visit to Struga | Reply
22nd August 2019 London
Travelling to the EU or live there? Get ready for Brexit
The UK is leaving the EU on 31 October and we are making all necessary preparations to ensure we are ready. This includes making sure UK travellers to the EU and UK nationals living in the EU are prepared. If this is you – or you have friends and family involved – then please read […]
Read more on Travelling to the EU or live there? Get ready for Brexit | Reply (9)
22nd August 2019
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Creativity – It’s Good Business
This week, like many others, I have been enjoying the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF). I feel particularly lucky that my first as UK Ambassador was the 25th SFF (I will admit to having sneaked in unofficially last year, just before I began my mandate). I am still star struck after seeing two of my favourite […]
19th August 2019 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Saving the Planet
In my last blog I talked about the power of British film and TV (and music). Today I want to make a very ambitious claim – that British TV is saving the planet, or at least helping to save the planet. In 2017 the famous British naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough made a programme – […]
13th August 2019 Stockholm, Sweden
International Collaboration for a Flexible Energy System
Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction describes perfectly the low carbon transformation of the energy system across Europe. Institutional frameworks and infrastructures are being disrupted as new clean energy innovations, business models and market players make inroads. Yet, the clean energy transition is not nearly moving fast enough for to meet the Paris agreement (much […]
Read more on International Collaboration for a Flexible Energy System | Reply (1)
7th August 2019 London,UK
The Westminster Abbey Institute Fellows’ Programme
The splendid Gothic structure of Westminster Abbey dominates the southern side of Parliament Square. The nineteenth-century reconstruction by Charles Barry of the Palace of Westminster, home of the houses of parliament, continues the Gothic theme along its eastern side. There is another point of commonality which unites the neighbours around the square: public service. To […]
Read more on The Westminster Abbey Institute Fellows’ Programme | Reply
6th August 2019 Geneva, Switzerland
Inaugural Conference for Alumni of UN International Law Seminar
Shortly before the summer break, I had the privilege of co-hosting at the Palais des Nations the first ever conference for the alumni of the UN’s International Law Seminar (ILS). Since 1965, the ILS has been organised at the Palais to coincide with the session in Geneva of the International Law Commission (ILC). Every year […]
Read more on Inaugural Conference for Alumni of UN International Law Seminar | Reply
2nd August 2019
5 Steps to Making Your Event Free From Single Use Plastics
When planning an event there are lots of factors to take into consideration and it is becoming ever-more important to think about how to protect the environment as a part of this planning. It is our responsibility to look after our planet and there are ways we can all contribute with just a little extra […]
Read more on 5 Steps to Making Your Event Free From Single Use Plastics | Reply (2)
2nd August 2019 Tokyo, Japan
Japan in Northern Ireland
Many Japanese don’t know much about Northern Ireland, although the recent media reporting on the “Irish backstop” issue has made them more aware that the island of Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland. Japan will shortly be welcoming teams from all the constituent elements […]