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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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13th July 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Iron awe in the Pilbara
Anglo Australian giant Rio Tinto earns $21bn a year from mining in Western Australia. They took me to visit their vast iron-ore mining operation in the remote Pilbara region, some 1000 km north of Perth. As I lined up at the airport with hundreds of miners in their hi-vis jackets, at 4.30 am, I reflected […]
12th July 2012 Guatemala City, Guatemala
Guatemala: Crimebusters!
Security and justice have been prominent themes this week in Guatemala. On 9 July the International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) launched their new work-plan for 2012/13, its Head, Francisco Dall’Anese, flanked by Guatemala’s heads of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers, as he described how CICIG intends to continue tackling impunity. Then a day later, […]
12th July 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Getting outside is GREAT
In celebration of summer and getting outside, another guest blog posting by our British High Commission Ottawa, Climate and Prosperity Advisor, Adrienne Yuen: Last week, I came across this eye-popping infographic on nature and us. Apparently, nature is good for you. It can make you healthier, smarter, fitter, and nicer. Just two minutes outside can […]
12th July 2012 Washington DC, USA
Winning Gold in the Green Race
Today the UK is being recognized by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), for its efforts and achievement in energy efficiency. The ACEEE believes that “a country that uses less energy to achieve the same or better results reduces costs and pollution, creating a stronger, more competitive economy.” This is what we’re doing […]
12th July 2012 London, UK
Reviewing the Balance of Competences between the UK and EU
Today the Foreign Secretary launched the review of the balance of EU competences. As he said, now is the right time to take a critical and constructive look at exactly where competence lies, how the EU’s competences, are used and what that means for our national interest. A desire to see significant reform and change […]
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12th July 2012
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
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
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
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
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 […]