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
9th May 2013 Washington DC, USA
Shared Horizons – Is it cutting-edge science when you can’t find a joke about it on the web?
The following is a guest blog post from Suzanne Austin, Deputy Director for Research Councils UK team in the US. I wanted to start this blog post with a joke. You know the one where there’s a historian, biologist and computer scientist in a bar? And they….except they don’t. There are no jokes about these […]
Read more on Shared Horizons – Is it cutting-edge science when you can’t find a joke about it on the web? | Reply
9th May 2013 London, UK
At the ballot box
My first visit to a polling station was not to vote, but as a poll clerk. From 6am until 10pm I sat in a draughty hall in Harrow, north London checking that the voters were on the electoral register, validating their ballot paper with a special machine and handing it to them so they could […]
9th May 2013 London, UK
Bosnia – time to move forward
This week, at the British Embassy in Sarajevo, a memorial was unveiled to the 59 British personnel who lost their lives in the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s. Their sacrifice is a reminder of the strength of the UK’s commitment to a stable and secure Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the impact that conflict […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Somalia: What a difference a Year Makes
Prime Minister David Cameron and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia co-hosted an important conference on Somalia in London on 7 May. As I told Vatican Radio, the conference was held under very different circumstances from the February 2012 London Somalia conference. Shortly before then, Benedict XVI had called on the world to act in […]
Read more on Somalia: What a difference a Year Makes | Reply
9th May 2013 Malmo, Sweden
Case study: Iran
For some years now, my country, Iran, has been in a difficult situation caused by economical pressures, social deficiencies and most importantly of all, a lack of freedoms. I was a child of the Islamic revolution; my generation grew up in war and post-war situations but nothing more than social restrictions surrounding us. I always […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Lumină din Lumină
I love the Orthodox tradition of sharing the Holy Fire from Jerusalem at Easter. Last weekend my wife was back in London so I was a single parent for Easter in Bucharest with our two younger daughters (and one of their friends). We went to the midnight service at our local Orthodox Church. There was […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Local Elections 2013
Last month Ethiopians cast their ballots in the 2013 local elections. They were peaceful and according to the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) more than 90% of the 31 million registered voters took part on polling days, 14 and 21 April. Local elections here are for electing members of local government at zonal, sub-city, […]
9th May 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Sports Ministers wager on forthcoming Ashes and Lions’ tours
Australian sports minister, Senator Kate Lundy, must be a glutton for punishment. She’s already had to pay a forfeit over her bet with UK sports minister Hugh Robertson about the results at the London Olympics. Now she’s signed up for further wagers with him over the forthcoming Ashes and the Lions’ tour. It was all […]
Read more on Sports Ministers wager on forthcoming Ashes and Lions’ tours | Reply
8th May 2013 New York, USA
24 hours at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston – Britain has the power!
Talk about feeling energised. As I fly back to New York from Houston, blogging about my time there is a good way to reflect on what I’ve just witnessed. Offshore Technology Conference is the largest energy conference on the planet with over 90,000 delegates. This is Texas after all: ‘big’ takes on a whole new […]
Read more on 24 hours at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston – Britain has the power! | Reply
8th May 2013 Paris, France
The Somalia Conference: Helping a country rebuild itself
We’ve been holding in London the second International Conference on Somalia – the first one was in February 2012. This time, it’s been co-chaired by the British Government and by the new President of Somalia. I used to work on the Somalia problem two years ago when I was National Security Adviser with David Cameron, […]
Read more on The Somalia Conference: Helping a country rebuild itself | Reply (1)