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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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21st June 2012 Paris, France
The UK – looking forward, celebrating tradition.
Transcript of a video recording by Sir Peter Ricketts, British Ambassador to France: I wanted to talk to you about two things that we have been heavily engaged on in the last couple of weeks. First of all I was able to pay my first visit to the Rhone-Alpes region, to the great city of […]
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21st June 2012 Paris, France
Welcome!
I arrived in Paris in February. I have already found this to be one of the most fascinating and rewarding jobs that I have ever had. Britain and France have ties that are both deep and broad. The two Governments work together on a huge range of issues from foreign policy and defence, to nuclear […]
21st June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Defence visit by all party group of MPs
A group of senior MPs are currently visiting, to explore Australian thinking on Defence: Jim Murphy (Labour, Shadow Defence Secretary), Claire Perry (Conservative, PPS to the Defence Secretary) and Sir Bob Russell (Lib Dem, Member of the Defence Select committee). In Canberra they met the Australian Defence Minister and Opposition spokesman, as well as a range […]
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20th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Britain’s Prosperity – our focus is both at home and on Europe. It’s not either or.
Some commentators have argued that the UK can’t keep blaming Europe for our economic challenges. These trouble me and I want to correct some of claims that I’ve read. First, the claim that our trade with Europe isn’t significant, and thus doesn’t have an impact on our economic growth. Europe is Britain’s largest trading partner, […]
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20th June 2012 London, UK
UK secures improvements to EU fishing policy
Last week the UK secured agreement from EU Fisheries Ministers on much needed reforms to the broken Common Fisheries Policy. Following 24 hours of tense negotiations at the EU Fisheries Council held in Luxemburg, Ministers agreed to end ineffective micro-management by Brussels and to a ban on the discarding of dead fish – an issue […]
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20th June 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Remembering the “forgotten war”
War fever is racing down the river! Actually, war commemoration fever, as the many ceremonies to mark the War of 1812 begin. I had the pleasure of attending two fascinating events in the last week. The first, at Ottawa’s excellent War Museum, is called: 1812: One War, Four Perspectives. Its curator is Dr Peter MacLeod, […]
19th June 2012 Washington DC, USA
Battling Back to Race Across America!
The following is a guest post by SSgt Steve Arnold, who is one of eight British wounded servicemen racing 3,051 miles across America in eight days with the support of Help for Heroes. SSgt Arnold was carrying out search operations in Afghanistan when an IED exploded taking both his legs, and will be completing the […]
19th June 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Startup Canada – Another Startup Nation (#StartUpNations) Launches!
You may have recently heard about a grass roots startup movement, by entrepreneurs and for entrepreneurs, called Startup Canada (@Startup_Canada). Sister organisation to Startup Britain (@StartupBritain), Startup Canada is an effort that’s been gaining momentum for a little over a year (the first mention of them on this blog would have been in relation to […]
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19th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A subtle story of the horrors of war
The table is set for a banquet. Dozens of glasses are lined up, interspersed with samovars and accordions. Around, in the darkness, thousands of faces look on. But no one will ever eat or drink. I’m in the Remembrance Hall at the Museum of the “Great Patriotic War” in Kyiv. The Museum, located under the […]
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18th June 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Greater than sex?
Playwright Harold Pinter once said that “I tend to think that cricket is the greatest thing that God ever created on earth – certainly greater than sex, though sex isn’t too bad either.” Last Friday we witnessed what we think may have been the first ever instance on our compound (of cricket, that is). As […]