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
23rd September 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
Potty Theory
I’ve often thought that subscribers to chaos theory would do well to spend a week or two watching meetings at the Human Rights Council. The principal idea is that a small random change at one point can result in major unexpected consequences later on. It would be fascinating to try to catalogue the seemingly minor […]
23rd September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Deputy National Security Adviser visits Canberra as new government settle in
It was a great week to take the pulse of Canberra, as Tony Abbot’s new Administration moved into office. Britain’s Deputy National Security Adviser, Hugh Powell, called on members of the PM’s staff and met senior officials across the spectrum of foreign and security policy last week. They told him they looked forward to working […]
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23rd September 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Laos through my eyes – Mark Jerome
I am a chartered accountant who has been working in South East Asia for 16 years. Currently, I am partner in-charge of KPMG in Laos, as well as being the Asia region representative on KPMG’s International Development Assistance Services Working Group.
20th September 2013 Washington DC, USA
The Battle of Britain and a Foundation of Trust
This week marked a significant historical moment for my nation—the 73rd anniversary of the Battle of Britain. A brief description of this titanic struggle: by the 18 of June 1940, following the chaotic evacuation of 330,000 men from Dunkirk, all of Britain’s forces had been driven out of France. Recognising the very great danger that now loomed, Winston Churchill—who had been Prime […]
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20th September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
En finir de la peine de mort
Like every good organisation, we (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) constantly seek to improve. As part of that effort, we continually compare ourselves to the foreign ministries of other countries. We tend to focus on the Ministère des Affaires étrangères of France, or the “Quai d’Orsay”, after the street where the ministry is based. As […]
20th September 2013 Paris, France
Join the UK campaign against sexual violence in conflict. It’s #timetoact!
Everyone is working incredibly hard at the moment to deal with the conflict in Syria. This conflict reminds us all again that all too often we find that rape and sexual violence is used as an instrument of war, particularly against women.
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20th September 2013 New Delhi, India
Interview with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, was in India this week, visiting institutions in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Among other calls in Bangalore, he launched our new prize for biotech businesses to visit Cambridge and had several discussions to take forward the Bangalore Cambridge Innovation Network. I caught up […]
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20th September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Call for peace
We can’t escape the daily reports of widespread violence throughout our world. And it has been especially shocking to hear recently about chemical weapons being used on innocent civilians in Syria. As we mark International Peace Day, it’s important that we stand in solidarity with people caught in conflicts. We are faced today with many […]
20th September 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Woomera – a test range in the outback
Woomera – a test range the size of England – was a famous Cold War site, where the Anglo-Australia Joint Project was established in 1946. The name comes from the Aboriginal word for “spear thrower”. At its heyday some 7,000 people lived in a specially constructed town in the middle of the desert, 500 km […]
19th September 2013 Havana, Cuba
‘Dear Ambassador…’
Thankfully not all of the 150,000 Brits who come to Cuba each year on holiday write to me asking for advice on where to go fishing. Earlier this summer, I received the following letter: ‘Dear Ambassador I am eagerly anticipating a visit to your adopted country from the 22nd June in company with four friends. We […]