Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

7th November 2012

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by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

Fair + Trade = Fairtrade

Fairtrade – what a great organisation! Since the launch of their ethical lable in 1988 they have advanced to a position in which they support over 1.2 million farmers in over 66 countries – including over 700,000 producers and agricultural value chains in 29 African countries. The UK is the most supportive nation of Fairtrade […]

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7th November 2012 Budapest, Hungary

by Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Bond is GREAT Britain

We arranged a screening of the new Bond film, Skyfall, last week. On the same day it premiered here in Budapest. And we invited our closest contacts and friends to share the evening with us. It was great to see members of government, politicians, people from ministries, NGOs and just friends of the Embassy relaxing […]

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7th November 2012 New Delhi, India

Spotlight on open calls

From our survey back in June, we know many of you have a strong interest in the finding out about UK-India funding opportunities. So, thought we would write a special ‘Spotlight On’ blog to tell you about the current open calls. Hot off the press, last week the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council […]

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5th November 2012

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

A time to study…

As you may have spotted on the Embassy’s front page today, applications are now being accepted for the next round of the Chevening Programme – a prestigious full scholarship for a year’s Master’s degree study in the UK. We’re privileged to have sent a number of excellent students on this programme in the past, and […]

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5th November 2012 Washington DC, USA

Rosalind Campion portrait

by Rosalind Campion

Counsellor for Global Issues

Washington, New York, and the Blustery Day

Last weekend while sitting in the TEDx MidAtlantic conference, I found myself feeling edgy. I kept compulsively checking my e-mails and Twitter feed for mentions of “Sandy”. After almost a year in Washington DC, hurricane Sandy was my first experience of extreme weather in the US. Which is why, as photographs of empty DC grocery […]

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5th November 2012

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Travelling to the UK: Priority Business Visas

Business is booming between the UK and Turkey. We are well on track to meet the commitment made in 2010 by Prime Ministers David Cameron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to double trade between our two countries by 2015. Part of boosting business is getting our visa policy right. That’s why earlier this year we introduced […]

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5th November 2012

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by Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Australia in the Asian Century: mutual challenges and opportunities

The Australian government published a White Paper last week setting out strategic directions for “Australia in the Asian Century”. It outlined things Australia needs to do to increase its orientation towards the rising Asian countries, and things it needs to do domestically to improve its economic competitiveness in the face of ever more intense competition. […]

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5th November 2012

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by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

"Never, Ever Again…"

…I read on the statue outside the “Red Terror” Martyrs’ Memorial Monument museum in Meskel Square, Addis Ababa, when I visited recently. The motto reflects Ethiopia’s determination never again to allow the terror that flourished under the Derg military junta in 1977-8 to be repeated. Under Mengistu Haile Mariam, who still lives in exile in […]

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