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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
14th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Promoting London’s Olympic legacy in Guatemala’s second city, Xela
With the Ambassador in London at the FCO’s Leadership Conference, this is a guest blog from Hector Marroquin, our Prosperity Officer. Last weekend we went to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second city, also known as Xela, to take part in their Cultural and Business Festival, “XelajuEs… Diferente!” This was the second year the Municipality of Xela had […]
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14th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Listening: The Secret of Leadership
Much has been written about what makes a good leader. Books have analysed the nature of leadership. Business schools charge high fees to teach leadership skills to up-and-coming middle managers. And leadership gurus have made fortunes using clever sounding buzz-words such as “demonstrate integrity”, “build trust” and “inspire innovation”. This week I will be at […]
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14th May 2013 London, UK
A startling statistic
A startling statistic – over half the businesses that get help from UK Trade & Investment go on to win additional sales of over £600,000 within two years. The UK’s trade performance is often discussed in the abstract, or at the macroeconomic level. People look at the effect on UK GDP or the balance of […]
14th May 2013 Toronto, Canada
SINtern in Toronto: Saira Meese-Tamuri
Earlier this month, we recruited a new intern to work with SIN Canada from the British Consulate-General here in Toronto. Saira Meese-Tamuri will be taking projects based on some of the eight great technologies forward, as well as working on external communications (follow her on Twitter at @SMeeseTamuri). You may have already seen some of […]
14th May 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Laos through my eyes – Anne Keothavong
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 parents were both born in Laos but came to the UK in the 1970s. I was born in Hackney in East London. Having visited Laos twice (once 8 […]
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13th May 2013 Ottawa, Canada
Data: the Raw Material of the 21st Century
In today’s ‘Information Age’, data is the fuel driving innovation in economy and society. Chris Yiu, head of the Digital Government Unit at the Policy Exchange (a leading London think tank) sits on the UK Government’s Data Strategy Board. He was recently in Ottawa to speak at the Data Effect conference about UK initiatives. I […]
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13th May 2013 Harare, Zimbabwe
Prime Minister of Denmark visits Helmand PRT
The Prime Minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt has visited Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Lashkar Gah for an update on progress. The visit was the premier’s second since she took office in 2011. The Prime Minister expressed her gratitude and pride of the Danish military and civilian staff in Helmand. She stressed that Denmark will […]
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13th May 2013 London, UK
Europe – the big debate
I was in Dublin last week for Europe Day, where I gave a speech about the future of Europe. There is always a certain frisson when a European audience invites a British minister to speak. The late Baroness Thatcher said once that if you believed everything you read about our views on Europe, it would […]
13th May 2013 Warsaw, Poland
MINIS are GREAT – A Super Family Day Out
Midnight Friday 10th May the Emerging Europe GREAT Mini arrives under the cover of night to Warsaw branded up and raring to go. Saturday 11th May, bright and early, on the road to an airstrip somewhere in the wilds outside Dęblin. A mini Silverstone, well a great little airstrip where 25 of its friends all […]
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12th May 2013 Harare, Zimbabwe
Helmand – will it spiral back into violent extremism?
I’m back from Helmand for a couple of weeks for some R&R, to attend the FCO leadership conference, and to do a ground-truthing session at NATO in Brussels. As always, I’m spending plenty of time persuading friends, colleagues, and anyone who will listen, that: no, it isn’t all going fall to pieces after 2014. Progress […]
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