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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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19th March 2013 New Delhi, India
Best of Engineering, Best of the Web
Louis Pouzin, Robert Kahn, Vint Cerf, Tim Berners Lee and Marc Andreessen were announced as the inaugural winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (a £1m global engineering prize) this week. They were selected for their ground breaking work which led to the internet and world wide web. We’re pretty sure we can’t add much to […]
19th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Brits in Turkey: where to get advice
I was struck by a recent newspaper article saying that British nationals had bought over 1,300 properties in Turkey in the last nine months. Only German nationals (2,557) had bought more. It was a useful reminder of the strengths of the links between Turkey and the UK. Around 35,000 British nationals are resident in Turkey, […]
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19th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
High tech British industry behind the F1 pizzazz
I’m definitely not a “petrolhead”, but I am fascinated by all the razzmatazz that goes on around Melbourne’s iconic Grand Prix, bringing together the celebs, the politicians and the business suits. But the aspect which interests me most of all, is the extraordinary research-intensive industry that lies behind the world of F1, much of it […]
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18th March 2013 Budapest, Hungary
A passionate affair
I’m a big sports fan. So when the CEO of a British company asked if I’d like to go to a football match in which the Hungarian team they sponsor was playing in I said yes straight away. I’ve been in Hungary a year now and I hadn’t been to a game – and this […]
18th March 2013 Beirut, Lebanon
The Courage to Coexist?
Last Friday, I was lucky to attend the launch of the National Charter for Education on Living Together in Lebanon, which provides pupils with the knowledge and attitudes needed to live together in a diverse society. It was the first public milestone in the work that the Education Ministry, the Council for Educational Research and […]
18th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Doing What Works – the Data Revolution
This month in the UK we launched the ‘What Works’ Network – new centres of evidence to help ensure better decisions across £200 billion of public service spending. It’s the first time a government has set up such a model. The video launch at NESTA is well worth a look. The Network consists of two existing […]
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18th March 2013 Nairobi, Kenya
Opportunity, partnership and commitment.
Last Thursday, the Federal Government of Somalia, together with the UK, hosted the latest meeting with a number of key international partners in Mogadishu. The location was significant. This was the first time such a meeting had been held in Mogadishu since the Federal Government came to power last year. It was a real demonstration […]
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18th March 2013
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Arms Trade Treaty: when diplomacy makes a difference
In my job I am often asked “what difference can diplomacy really make?”. It is not always an easy question to answer. But, this week at the United Nations in New York, we should see an example of diplomacy making a real, tangible difference – and both Turkey and the UK are involved. Today the […]
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18th March 2013 London, UK
Commonwealth – the world’s first social network?
Practise what you preach, we are always told. With my Australian colleague, I had invited six other High Commissioners in Brunei to answer the question “What does the Commonwealth mean to you?” – so I was going to have to come up with an answer of my own. I’ll tell you what it was in […]
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15th March 2013 Yerevan, Armenia
Interview with David Dowell, good friend of Armenia
Following the earthquake in Armenia in December 1988, Mrs Thatcher – the British Prime Minister – promised to rebuild one of the schools in Gyumri. Donations came from the British government, British business and the British people. David Dowell ran one of the companies that agreed to help the project. He spoke to Kathy Leach […]
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