Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

25th April 2024

Canberra, Australia

Reflect & Remember: Anzac Day 2024

by Brigadier Nigel Best OBE

Defence Advisor, Australia

23rd April 2024

Panama

Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success

by James Dauris

British Ambassador, Panama

21st March 2024

London, United Kingdom

Forests in focus on International Day of Forests

by Phoebe Thomas

Deputy Head Legislation, International Organisations, FCDO Protocol Directorate

12th July 2012

by Martin Harris

Minister and Deputy Head of Mission to Russia

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

Just ‘As I Like It’

I had a rare treat yesterday evening. A troupe of travelling actors turned up in the George Enescu square and put on a free show for the Bucharest public. The play was Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like it’. The actors happened to be from William Shakespeare’s very own theatre, the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London. For […]

12th July 2012 Harare, Zimbabwe

by Catriona Laing

British Ambassador to Zimbabwe

Come together, right now, in Tokyo

I have invited members of the PRT to use my blog to talk about their work. This instalment comes from Marie-Louise Hoilund-Carlsen in the PRT’s Socio-Economic Development Team. These are some of the top items on the to-do list this week – they have been for the past couple of months and will guide our […]

11th July 2012 London, UK

by David Lidington

Minister for Europe, London

Croatia’s EU accession – a year to go

I’ve just returned from my first visit as Minister for Europe to Zagreb. My visit comes just one year before Croatia’s accession to the EU. Everyone I’ve met has that on their minds. I’ve been looking at three ways I think we can strengthen our friendship: We need to look at areas of common interest […]

11th July 2012 Paris, France

by Peter Ricketts

Ambassador to France from February 2012 to January 2016.

President Hollande’s visit to London

Thoughts on the French president François Hollande’s visit to London yesterday, and on the many ministerial visits over the past few weeks between France and the UK.

11th July 2012

by Peter Millett

Ambassador to Libya, Tripoli

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

Be Prepared!

Watching the Wimbledon tennis championships last week reminded me of the old Scouts motto: “Be Prepared”. It demonstrates yet again that preparation is the key to success. We not only saw the players thrashing the ball at each other on Centre Court, but also saw snippets of their painstaking preparations, spending hours every day honing […]

More British exports in Poland? Bring it on!

This is a call for mid-size British business to take a closer look at Poland. Are you a mid-size business? Are you a mid-size business which makes something… something which adds value? If so I really want to hear from you. It’s dead easy to come and see me. If you are already doing business […]

10th July 2012

by Judith Macgregor

British High Commissioner to South Africa

This post was published when the author was in a previous role

We’re getting closer

UK and Mexico celebrate Virgin Atlantic´s new route from London Gatwick airport to Cancun. This is a great addition to our aim of doubling trade with Mexico by 2015. Read more about new Virgin Atlantic´s flight: New opportunities in Mexico, by Richard Branson

10th July 2012 Cape Town, South Africa

by Simon Atkinson

Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town

Celebrating UK sport and royalty in South Africa

I last blogged from Windhoek, Namibia, where I was covering for our High Commissioner Marianne Young. I’m now back on my more usual perch as Deputy Consul General, Cape Town. I thought I’d update you on what we’ve been doing in Cape Town recently to promote the UK and the GREAT campaign. (It’s no secret […]

10th July 2012 Nairobi, Kenya

by Matt Baugh

Ambassador to Somalia

Transparency Matters

Several weeks ago, I attended a briefing in Nairobi about a recent review of the now-infamous ‘Fartaag Report’ – a 2011 report that alleged corruption and misappropriation within the TFG on a significant scale during 2009-2010. The review provided – as far as possible – an investigation into the veracity of the charges within the […]

9th July 2012 Toronto, Canada

by John Preece

Council of Canadian Academies reports on assessment of research performance

The Council of Canadian Academies (@scienceadvice) reported back last week on a year-long Expert Panel assessment of how research performance is measured in science and engineering disciplines. The 16-member panel included Sir Keith O’Nions (Rector, Imperial College London), and was co-reviewed by Claire Donovan (Reader, Brunel University). The specific question the panel was asked to […]