Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

8th August 2013

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH CONTRACTS FOR DIFFERENCE

I blogged on 4 July about the Government’s proposals for Electricity Market Reform. It sounds, and is, quite technical, but it’s also an important part of stimulating new investment in the UK’s energy sector and meeting our climate change targets. Part of the deal to attract investment is to have formal agreements which guarantee the […]

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8th August 2013

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Promoting Mutual Respect

The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission.  Pope Francis has signed the Holy See’s traditional message to the Muslims around the world who are celebrating the Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. The theme of his message is Promoting Mutual Respect through Education, and in it the Pope calls […]

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7th August 2013

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by Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I don’t have a great deal in common with Lady Thatcher, but my father was also a grocer. Growing up in Scotland in the early 70’s, I have vague memories of what now seems a very old-fashioned grocer’s shop, as far removed from today’s Waitroses and ICAs, as a Ford Model T is from a […]

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7th August 2013 New Delhi, India

UK-India Collaboration – Focus: role of big business and academic R&D collaboration to support in international innovation

Continuing our series of guest blogs from our visitors, here’s a blog from Dr Nick Rousseau, Head of EU and International Innovation Policy within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , UK about his visit to India few weeks ago.. My role in the UK Government’s Innovation Directorate is to look at how we […]

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7th August 2013

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by Peter Millett

Ambassador to Libya, Tripoli

Talking Rubbish

Travel broadens the mind. By visiting different countries you can make comparisons and learn about how those countries handle big issues.  You can also start to appreciate and understand your own country better. One issue which hits visitors abroad is the way a country handles rubbish.   I have just returned after two weeks on […]

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5th August 2013 Paris, France

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by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

Tips for Britons on holidays in France this summer

Lacanau Beach - South West France - Credits: Azotte - CC BY-SA-3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

We are now in the summer holiday season, and an amazing 17 million British people come to France every year. We want everyone to have a happy, successful, relaxing holiday. And for that there are one or two tips which I would offer to everyone planning a holiday in France this summer.

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4th August 2013 Beirut, Lebanon

Tom Fletcher

by Tom Fletcher

Former British Ambassador to Lebanon

‘United for Tomorrow’: Lebanon’s Live Aid?

I look back at Live Aid, and its 2005 successor Live 8, as extraordinary moments where politics and culture came together with breathtaking power. What Bob Geldof and others achieved was not just to highlight the importance of Africa, but to move the needle – mobilising a generation to believe that our obligations to confront […]

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