3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
13th November 2012 Windhoek, Namibia
British belles on the beat with the Namibian police
It is always a challenge to give official visitors from London a real taste of how a small embassy is delivering results both internally and externally during a lightning visit. This was the issue faced last week, when the High Commission in Windhoek welcomed the Foreign Office’s Human Resources Director Menna Rawlings, senior Human Resources […]
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13th November 2012 Cape Town, South Africa
President Pohamba visits South Africa
As you may remember, though I’m based at the Consulate-General in Cape Town, I’m also accredited as the Deputy High Commissioner in Namibia (to support our team there). The historic visit this week by Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba to South Africa presented me with a rare chance to mix the two roles. On Tuesday (6 […]
12th November 2012 Paris, France
Remembrance 2012: Lest we forget
I’m speaking to you just after the commemorations here of 11 November, when we look back and remember those killed in all the wars in the last hundred years. This was my first time in Paris attending these commemorations and it was the privilege to be at the Arc de Triomphe where the Président de […]
12th November 2012 Warsaw, Poland
EMERGING EUROPE hits the Road – the start of a nationwide UK tour
Good afternoon and a great big welcome to UK Global Export week. This is a massive push to get the UK exporting. Great news – Emerging Europe hits the road today on a nationwide tour of the UK to promote our region – 9 countries of strategic opportunity which last year topped the UK rankings […]
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12th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Why allowing everything in England helps international business
It’s not often that I meet representatives of a British Company in the morning and read in the afternoon that they are contributing to UK economic success. So I’m intrigued here in Istanbul to meet leading law firm DLA Piper – one of several which have established substantial operations in Turkey – and to read […]
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12th November 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Yes, Prime Minister!
My Prime Minister David Cameron was in town last week. Maybe you’re wondering what it’s like arranging a visit by a leading politician? And what it’s like having him stay in your home? For any Ambassador, a top-level visit is the icing on the cake of what we do. Embassies try to get to know the country they’re […]
11th November 2012 Yerevan, Armenia
NATO Week and Remembrance Day: planning for the future, and remembering the past
This week we have been celebrating NATO Week in Armenia – an annual opportunity for both NATO member states and the Armenian government to present to a wider public what we have been doing together and why both sides value the partnership. As the NATO Contact Point Embassy, I and our defence liaison team – […]
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10th November 2012 Beirut, Lebanon
History, Remembrance and ‘The Key of Hope’
Following Remembrance services in Saida and Tripoli on Thursday, we have just left the third, in the beautifully kept Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Beirut. The torrential rain cleared, and we honoured those who fell, driving Vichy from Lebanon in 1941. We share these poignant moments with former allies and former foes. The allied contingent […]
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9th November 2012 Washington DC, USA
Election Withdrawal Syndrome
For me, election campaigning has been a constant element of life in the US. The entire year I have been lived here has involved the most prolonged, sustained, energetic excitement about choosing a country’s leader that I could have imagined. From the first day we arrived, the question of who was to be the next […]
9th November 2012 Chevening, UK
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.
Our latest Chevening Conversations blog is by new 2012 Chevening Scholar Meg Lawson. Meg is studying International Peace and Security at King’s College London. Strolling past Big Ben. Studying in the same buildings as Desmond Tutu. Enjoying a ‘cuppa’ in the original Twinings shop. And never leaving your flat without an umbrella. It’s all in […]
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