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
27th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Well-being, the Common Good and the Holy See
What are governments for? At its most fundamental, the role of government is to keep people and communities safe. Right until the modern era, provision of security was seen as the prime function of government. It still is an essential priority, and it is no coincidence that assuring national security remains one of the over-riding […]
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27th May 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Laos through my eyes – Andrew Bartlett
This article is part of a series of guest blogs contributed by Brits who have lived and worked in Laos, or who have other interesting links to Laos. My first visit to Laos was in 1983 when I was part of a young professional scheme funded by the British Aid programme. I had been attached to a regional UN […]
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27th May 2013 Geneva, Switzerland
June too soon
There was a time not so long ago when the Geneva sun shone happily throughout spring time, when kinder colleagues used to mistake me for an intern and the June Human Rights Council session actually began in June. This year we’ve still not managed to put our winter clothes away, a worrying number of colleagues […]
24th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Memory of War
I took part in the Victory Day ceremony in Minsk on 9 May to honour the veterans and fallen of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. The term “Great Patriotic War” sounds strange to us Britons, but we weren’t invaded. Our memory is of the longer period we know as the Second World War (WWII) […]
24th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Australian business opportunities: 10,000 miles and one click away
Australia is a very long way from Britain – 23 hours flying time. That can sometimes put small businesses off exploring the big opportunities in this important market. But many companies are exporting very successfully to Australia without leaving home, thanks to booming e-commerce sales. 15.7 million Australians are active online and Australia’s online retail […]
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23rd May 2013 Paris, France
The Prime Minister’s first visit to the Elysée
We’ve just had David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, in Paris for his first visit here to President Hollande since his election. They travelled down together from the European Council in the same train, and they were able to have a bilateral meeting as they were travelling.
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23rd May 2013 New York, USA
The Old Bill… in New York
If you were strolling into Central Park at the Columbus Circle entrance last Saturday morning you might have been surprised to see a Metropolitan Police car parked under the USS Maine monument. A hundred yards further in, you might have stopped short at the sight of three-score British police officers warming up for a light […]
23rd May 2013 Washington DC, USA
A Tale of Two Summers
Two countries separated by different summers It’s that time of year again when Washington D.C. slowly but surely starts to melt. The heart of the East Coast summer time. Temperatures in the 80s, 90s and even higher. Suffocating humidity. Blazing sun. A feeling that we could be living in a swamp. The realisation that we […]
23rd May 2013 Mumbai, India
A baby, mental health and ageing – returning to SIN
With one of the first, hopefully with plenty of the second, and not too much of the third… Having spent 12 blissful months with my baby, it is time for me to resume my role as the science and innovation adviser in Mumbai. This blog is partly to introduce myself as a new author on […]
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23rd May 2013 Bangalore, India
On my mind!
According to Time to Change, a UK campaign to challenge stigma around mental health, one in four of us will be affected by a mental health problem in a given year. In this context, you perhaps shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I’ve been to two mental heath institutions in the past couple of weeks. However, […]