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
31st May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE: UK AMBITION FOR EU ACTION
During Sweden’s EU 2009 Presidency, the Union tried hard to lead international efforts to get a global climate change deal, culminating at the Copenhagen summit. It’s time to redouble our efforts and level of ambition as we look ahead to the Paris negotiations in 2015. As the climate talks in Durban in 2011 showed definitively, […]
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31st May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Lifestyle choices
New information and communications technologies (ICT) are changing the way we live and work. We can communicate instantaneously, find all sorts of information, and share ideas with others anywhere in the world. This transformation isn’t uniform across the world. Not everyone has reliable access to fast broadband let alone the internet, or wants to spend […]
30th May 2013 Chicago, USA
Big Science, Big Challenges
Big Science is expensive, and as justifying why tax dollars should pay for large scientific instruments is more difficult than ever. But Big Science is important and in these times of austerity, researchers and science leaders must do a better job of explaining how large scientific endeavours such as particle accelerators, massive light sources or […]
30th May 2013 Vancouver, Canada
Ministerial questions
Over the past few weeks I have been telling a lot of people that Minister Alistair Burt, from the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office, is visiting Vancouver. He’s responsible for the UK’s relationship with Canada and much besides. This was big news for me, but it seemed to elicit one of three responses…
30th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
TALKING EUROPE: FUN(NY) WAY TO SPEND A BIRTHDAY
I turned 45 yesterday and had planned a quiet day with my lovely wife and visiting mother. But when Patrick Sommerlath of Nobile invited me to debate the future of Europe with CNN’s Richard Quest, Ericsson’s CEO Hans Vestberg and Elizabeth Thand Ringqvist of Företagarna, with Per Schlingmann as moderator, I cast aside thoughts of […]
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29th May 2013 Kingston, Jamaica
Howzat!
Although I have yet to see the man in action, I have heard that Courtney Walsh has ‘probably bowled faster, for longer than any man in history’. His track record is clearly impressive, achieving 519 Test wickets and over 30,000 balls, and his role as an Ambassador for sport in Jamaica is highly deserved. Despite […]
29th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Syria: Arms and aims
Britain and Sweden don’t differ on much. We did this week on whether to lift the EU arms embargo on the legitimate opposition in Syria. We argued for the lift for political, security and humanitarian reasons. Our priority is a political transition that ends the conflict, allows refugees to return home, and prevents further radicalisation in […]
29th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Waffling at The WEF
Over the last few weeks I have heard lots of people talk about “The WEF”, as if there was a mysterious secret society that only a privileged few belonged to. Maybe you had to speak a coded language of “Weffery” to be in with the in-crowd. What were my impressions? The event was huge: over […]
28th May 2013 Washington DC, USA
What a Great Couple of Weeks!
What a couple of weeks this has been! The visit of Prince Harry to the United States was well covered in the media, and his attendance at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs certainly put that event on the map in both the UK and US. He really connected with the British Team, giving them […]
28th May 2013 USA
Can You Hear Me, Major Tim?
The following is a guest post by Ryan Nalty, Business Development Associate, Advanced Engineering, UKTI. The great British comedian, Eddie Izzard, once quipped, that British efforts in space would be equivalent to putting a man in a track suit up a ladder. Last week, that track suit became more expensive and that ladder, a tad […]