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?
4th July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Arts and crafts
London’s Royal Academy will host the largest exhibition of Australian art ever to leave this country from 21 September to 8 December. It includes many of Australia’s finest historic and current works from the leading public institutions. I attended the media launch at the National Gallery in Canberra last week, and gave an interview to […]
3rd July 2013 Washington DC, USA
My First Memories of Nelson Mandela
I’ve never met Nelson Mandela, nor have I been to South Africa. But like many who care about Africa or human rights or history, I am thinking of him a lot these days. And I can’t help but remember February 1990, when he was released from prison. Back then I was ten and living in […]
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3rd July 2013 Montreal, Canada
The Brain Enigma – How does the brain really work?
Despite intensive research for centuries, the normal functions and structure of the brain remain an enigma. Last June 25, an unprecedented partnership agreement (MoU) was signed in Montreal to broaden understanding of the human brain and take neuroscience research to new horizons…
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3rd July 2013 London, UK
@UKintlaw – tweeting and engaging on international law
On 2 April the International Law Team at the British Embassy in The Hague launched a Twitter account dedicated to international law issues. @UKintlaw is the first government Twitter account set up to tweet and engage solely on matters of international law. Its primary focus is on tweeting news arising out of events taking place within […]
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3rd July 2013 London, UK
Breaking the Sound Barrier with BEDB
First of all I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to the British High Commission to Brunei Darussalam for giving me the opportunity to post an article on the British High Commissions’ blog regarding my view on the Innovation Forum: UK-Southeast Asia Innovation, Design and Technology Forum which was held on Friday, 7th June 2013 in Singapore.
2nd July 2013 Kingston, Jamaica
Scattering and Gathering: Thoughts on Diasporas
I’ve always liked the word ‘diaspora’, which comes from Greek and means scattering or dispersion. Before I came to Jamaica I thought of the Diaspora as referring mainly to the worldwide Jewish community. And indeed, that community is represented here, with its roots in the immigration from Europe of those forced to convert to Christianity […]
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2nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Homage to Orwell
I’ve discovered that I might have a tendency to “Gladwellian” prose, as practised by Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian-British journalist who wrote “The Tipping Point”. This is the reduction of complicated issues into simple terms. I came across the term while reading a critique of the “plain and clear language” of George Orwell in the New […]
2nd July 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Shadow Foreign Secretary visits… in an interesting week in Canberra
Last week Shadow Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, visited Australia as a guest of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australian government arranged the programme for him, but we gave him an in-depth briefing at the High Commission, and I hosted a dinner to discuss foreign policy with MPs, officials […]
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1st July 2013 London, UK
Europe in the world in 2023 – what will it look like?
Ten years ago, the world was a very different place. No one had heard of Twitter and there was no Facebook. Ten years before that, we didn’t even have the World Wide Web. Given the pace of change, what will the world look like in ten years’ time, and what does this mean for Europe?
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1st July 2013 Harare, Zimbabwe
Prime Minister Cameron Praises the Achievements of Staff at the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)
David Cameron visited the Helmand PRT on Saturday 29th June as part of a grueling three country tour also taking in Pakistan and Kazakhstan. His day in Afghanistan started at 06.30 at Camp Bastion, took in a Forward Operating Base just outside Lashkar Gah, a visit to Main Operating Base Lashkar Gar (where the PRT […]
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