Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

29th October 2012 Washington DC, USA

by Peter Westmacott

Former Ambassador to the United States of America

Antony Gormley ‘Extends’ the Residence

Some people have garden gnomes, but here at the British Embassy in Washington, we’ve gone one better. Last Thursday we inaugurated a new sculpture on the lawn of the Ambassador’s Residence: ‘Extend’ , a remarkable work lent to us by one of Britain’s most highly-regarded sculptors, Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley. The sculptor himself was […]

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29th October 2012 Windhoek, Namibia

Marianne Young

by Marianne Young

High Commissioner, Windhoek

Discovering memories of Livingstone alive in the depths of Caprivi

Driving through the bush in Caprivi last week, heading for the magical Nkala Lupala conservancy, I passed a sign pointing down a rough track indicating the David Livingstone Museum. I was surprised. Neither the Regional Governor nor the Mayor of the nearby regional capital Katima Mulilo had mentioned the existence of a British-linked attraction despite […]

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26th October 2012

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

Reflections from our visit to the Falkland Islands and next steps

This is a guest blog from Eduardo Smith, our Political Officer, and Bruce Callow from our Embassy in Costa Rica, about their recent visit with Central American journalists to the Falkland Islands. We are now back in our home countries after an exhausting 24 hour journey from the Falklands. Our group split up in Panama […]

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26th October 2012

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by Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

Reflections from our visit to the Falkland Islands and next steps

This is a guest blog from Eduardo Smith, our Political Officer, and Bruce Callow from our Embassy in Costa Rica, about their recent visit with Central American journalists to the Falkland Islands. We are now back in our home countries after an exhausting 24 hour journey from the Falklands. Our group split up in Panama […]

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26th October 2012 Vancouver, Canada

Rupert Potter

by Rupert Potter

British Consul General, Vancouver

Inside out

Only a few weeks ago I settled into my new office at the UK Consulate General. In addition to the usual desk, chair, IT and telephony, it’s home to a struggling Yucca that I will doubtless see to a drawn-out dehydrated death, a framed painting of Her Majesty the Queen, and a corner window overlooking […]

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26th October 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Robin Barnett

by Robin Barnett

Former Ambassador to Ireland, Dublin

Britain and Poland in the EU

Our Minister for Europe David Lidington was in town this week for discussions with Polish Ministers, commentators and representatives of British business. It was an excellent opportunity to challenge some of the assertions in the local media regarding the UK’s disengagement from the EU and our attitude towards Structural and Cohesion Funds for Poland. On […]

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25th October 2012

by Peter Tibber

Ambassador to Colombia

Darfur

Last week I visited El Fasher with my Ambassadorial colleagues from the European Union. It was my second visit to Darfur since I arrived in Sudan nearly three months ago: I visited Nyala a few weeks ago in the same period staff from this embassy visited all of the 5 state capitals. Why the focus […]

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25th October 2012

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by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

Creating Future Leaders

“Knowledge is power” might be a perfect motto for the “Chevening” scholarships that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office offers every year to outstanding scholars around the world. We use these to help many people with leadership potential build their personal leadership capacity and understand the issues faced by many leaders today. Next year will […]

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25th October 2012 Warsaw, Poland

Martin Oxley, Head, UKTI Poland

by Martin Oxley

Director of UKTI Warsaw

10 things you need to know about Emerging Europe

We’re about to start the biggest ever UK roadshow promoting great business opportunity in Emerging Europe. We’re getting really excited. Emerging market opportunity bang on the UK’s doorstep. At some stage before the end of November we will have been within an hour of most businesses in the UK. We really want you to hear […]

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25th October 2012

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by Martin Harris

British Ambassador to Ukraine

The Fraternity of Firefighters

Across Europe, from Romania to the UK – more specifically from Sighisoara to Shropshire – there is a fraternity between the fire services of our different countries. On Saturday I was privileged to attend a ceremony to hand over three fire engines donated by the people of Shropshire for use in Mures and Brasov counties […]

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