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
28th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Brits in Brissie – consular assistance
Because of its fantastic tourist attractions, from the Great Barrier Reef to the Gold Coast, many of the 640,000 Brits who come to Australia each year visit Queensland. The vast majority of visits are completely trouble-free, but the sheer volume means that our Consular team in Brisbane are kept busy. Some people get ill, or […]
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27th March 2013 Seattle, USA
Roamin’ in the Evergreen State
When I was growing up in Canterbury, Kent, a house in our street had the name plate “Dunroamin” hung up on the outside wall. I was only about 8 years old, and hadn’t come across the term before. I thought it was a place in Ireland. But of course it means a state of mind […]
27th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Changing of the Guard
As Rome prepares for Easter – a time that Christians have always considered to be one of renewal and rebirth – there is a palpable feel across the global religious map of a recharging of batteries, a resurgence of hope, and new leaders reinvigorating the faithful of different religious traditions. We have a new Pope, […]
27th March 2013 Dublin, Ireland
The multi-faceted life of an Ambassador
It has been a busy time for both me and the wider Embassy team. A recent Tuesday found me trying not to confuse the financing of energy investment in Poland with a trilateral Afghan, Polish, British roundtable on progress and next steps in Afghanistan. Both are really important. Poland and the UK both need to […]
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27th March 2013 Warsaw, Poland
Business is GREAT – Poland’s Energy Opportunity
Off to Krakow today to team up with PMR, one of Emerging Europe’s leading business publication companies for an Energy is GREAT webinar. A virtual video conference where we get to present Poland’s €30 billion energy modernisation programme direct to UK companies across the UK. Where’s the opportunity then. Let’s take a pragmatic view: As […]
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27th March 2013 Vientiane, Laos
Home Sweet Home
We officially held our first day of work in the new British Embassy building on Monday! After months of preparing for this occasion, everyone was very happy to move into the new building with nearly all of the staff in place just days before the official opening of the Embassy on 2 April. After a […]
26th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Reforma proceselor de migraţie
Prim Ministrul britanic David Cameron a prezentat ieri viziunea Guvernului britanic asupra reformei procesului de migrație. Aş dori să subliniez câteva idei principale: În primul rând, Prim Ministrul a reconfirmat faptul că restricțiile de muncă aplicate lucrătorilor români şi bulgari vor fi ridicate la sfârșitul anului 2013: “Începând cu 1 ianuarie 2014 românii și bulgarii […]
26th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Managing Migration
The Prime Minister David Cameron has set out his thinking in a speech yesterday on how best to manage migration in the UK. I’d like to underline several points from his speech. Firstly, David Cameron reaffirmed that transitional controls on Romanian and Bulgarian workers will be lifted in 2014. He said “from the beginning of […]
26th March 2013 London, UK
FCO travel services check-in to GOV.UK | GDS
Sara Bowley outlines our new travel services on GOV.UK: “This morning we fully welcomed the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on to GOV.UK…
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26th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
British Consulate helps with safe blood for Turkey
What is red, liquid and knows no nationality? The answer of course is blood – something none of us can live without. For many years the Turkish Red Crescent has been running a social responsibility project to encourage people to donate blood. It is called the “Safe Blood Supply Programme”. I was delighted this year […]
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