17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
9th December 2025
Why We Need Data, Courage, and Community
2nd December 2025
In cybersecurity, there are no limits – only new voices ready to lead
20th December 2018 Skopje, North Macedonia
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much
I spend much of my time in meetings in offices with people who are involved in politics in Macedonia, or who work on research in civil society, organise public debates, draft legislation, or advise on official strategies. More rarely do I get to meet the every-day youth of Macedonia. So I was thrilled when a few […]
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19th December 2018 Science and Innovation Network
A Year of Arctic Adventures from UK Science and Innovation Network Arctic leads
It’s nearly Christmas – the time when we tend to look back on the past twelve months to reflect on the outcomes and celebrate the successes as we transition into the New Year. 2018 has certainly been eventful on the Arctic science front for the UK. Now if we were to try and recap some […]
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19th December 2018 Vienna, Austria
Awesome Austrian engineering: the Brenner Base Tunnel
Daylight fades as our vehicle enters the shaft. Ahead, a vast tunnel plunges into the mountain, fluorescent wall lights stretching into the haze ahead. Rumbling conveyor belts overhead bring debris from distant tunnel-boring machines towards the surface. We are visiting the Brenner Base Tunnel, at 64 kilometers (40 miles) the longest railway tunnel in the world. […]
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12th December 2018 Hanoi
Maritime security cooperation and the importance of the rules based international system
Earlier this week, international experts came together in Hanoi to discuss maritime security. We were involved – the Embassies of Britain, France and Australia and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam – because, our four countries are maritime nations that rely on sea trade routes and freedom of navigation across the globe. The rules which constitute […]
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12th December 2018 Vienna, Austria
A great Henry Moore in Vienna: domes, hills and protective parents
When I lived in Vienna in the 1980s I used to walk to work every day through the Karlsplatz. My path took my past the magnificent Karlskirche, completed in 1737. I also used to admire the beautiful elliptical pond, from which rose a large bronze work by the British sculptor Henry Moore, “Hill Arches”, installed […]
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10th December 2018 Skopje, North Macedonia
Lighting the lights on International Human Rights Day
This year the 8th day of Chanuckah falls on 10 December, International Human Rights Day. Chanuckah is celebrated as a festival for children. This is the story we tell them. Long ago, the Jewish people in Israel lived under the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes. He did not want to rule over a place with many […]
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10th December 2018
The wounds of my generation and why we engage
Anes Osmic and Ivana Bilic, young activists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, use theatre as a means of dialogue and believe that only through working together and communicating openly can one solve issues at the local level and build a common future. They cooperated on a play “Yellow Boots” performed at Sarajevo SARTR on 8 December […]
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9th December 2018 Vienna, Austria
Why corruption matters – and what we are doing about it
A corrupt politician in a country far away wears an expensive watch and owns a car costing many times his annual salary. Why should we care? Corruption matters because it undermines the rules-based international system; slows economic growth; and generates instability. All this harms countries, and peoples, around the world. Every year, corruption costs a […]
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7th December 2018
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Corruption has a cost … and it is paid by citizens
9 December is International Day for the Fight Against Corruption. No one in Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to be told about the damage done by this poison. Since I took over as British Ambassador here three months ago, it is probably the single subject I have heard most about in my conversations with people. Corruption […]
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6th December 2018 Skopje, North Macedonia
Everyone can be an ally for equality
Last week I hosted a meeting with nearly twenty people who work in various organisations in Macedonia on human rights issues and the support they provide to the people who are on the margins of the society unable to fully exercise their rights. I was particularly pleased that we also had among the guests a […]
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