17th December 2025
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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
22nd November 2018 New York, USA
Holding Russia to account at the United Nations: Russia’s role in blocking progress in Syria and flouting the rules of international law
The Syrian conflict has dragged on for seven long awful years. Over 400,000 people have been killed and half Syria’s population displaced. A terrible price has been paid by the Syrian people for the failure to make the Geneva Agreement of 2012 stick. This agreement identified steps for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a […]
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22nd November 2018 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Mongolia: small embassies can have a big impact
Mongolia is everything you expect. Mongolia is also everything you don’t expect. At least that’s what I found as the UK’s Ambassador. The world’s least densely populated country, which was once one of the largest empires in world history, it is a land of immense beauty and rich history. Mongolia is also a vibrant 21st […]
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16th November 2018 Calgary, Canada
Green Great Britain Week at the British Consulate-General Calgary
In October, the UK marked Green Great Britain Week and the 10th anniversary of the Climate Change Act. In Calgary, we marked it by taking a closer look at Alberta’s massive energy sector and the opportunities for the UK. The Canadian province of Alberta is known worldwide as the ‘gateway to the Rockies’ and home […]
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16th November 2018 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament blog: World War I – one hundred years on
Last weekend we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting on the Western Front in the First World War. In the UK and Commonwealth, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month has become a time to stop, fall silent, and remember the sacrifice of those killed in […]
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15th November 2018 Burma
Posted to Burma: a country on the edge
Before starting my posting to Burma, I was frequently asked, “What can an Ambassador actually do in a country like Burma?”. It was a good question! The recent crisis in Rakhine State and the traumas faced by the Rohingya have been widely reported in the news. Less well known are: the violent conflicts in other […]
15th November 2018 Stockholm, Sweden
Frontline diplomacy: our woman in Ukraine
Historically Ukraine has been described as a borderland – to the East, this has meant the country on the edge of the Russian Empire, and to the West, this has often meant the country on the periphery of Europe. But in the 21st century, Ukraine is a sovereign country at the very heart of a […]
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14th November 2018 Vientiane, Laos
Remembrance Day 2018 – Marking the Centenary in Laos
Fellow Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth Ambassadors, members of the diplomatic corps, proud veterans, ladies and gentleman. A warm welcome to the third Commonwealth Remembrance Ceremony in Laos which I am honoured to host at my Residence, to be followed by our traditional Indian curry meal on such an occasion. This really is a great Commonwealth tradition! […]
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13th November 2018
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
BiH citizens do not need a new Reform Agenda… they need reforms
Two weeks ago I appeared on N1. Zvonko Komsic asked me some tough and insightful questions, particularly on the political situation and what BiH politicians should do on the EU path. To several of the questions I gave the same answer – ‘They need to form governments quickly, and get on with reforms’. This repetition […]
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9th November 2018 London,UK
Culinary Design
Bompas and Parr’s website tells you that their company are “the leading expert in multi-sensory experience design.” A key component of these multi-sensory experiences involves the taste-buds, and their Bermondsey studios are centred on a large kitchen. I met Sam Bompas in a room dominated by what looks like a large church organ. That, says […]
9th November 2018 Geneva, Switzerland
Disarmament Blog: UNGA First Committee
On Saturday morning I returned to Geneva from four weeks in New York at the UN General Assembly’s Committee on Disarmament and International Security, known as First Committee. It’s a strange quirk that many countries staff First Committee from Geneva, as these are issues that are usually handled here. Some of my colleagues have notched […]