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Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
10th February 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
Somalia: Two Weeks to Remember. Two Weeks to go.
It’s been quite a fortnight. At the end of January, I accompanied the UK Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, to the AU Summit in Addis Ababa and then to Somalia. In Dollow – the first time a British Minister has visited southern Somalia in recent years, Mr Mitchell saw for himself the huge difference that UKaid […]
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9th February 2012 USA
The Fast and the Amphibious
Some weeks, Tuesday is just Tuesday. But this week I had a “James Bond” Tuesday. It was with great pleasure that I was able to participate at the unveiling of a revolutionary and truly game changing technology on Tuesday, with the Pentagon as the backdrop. On show was the “Phibian,” the newest high-speed amphibious vehicle […]
9th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Romania’s first Oxford Prime Minister
The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have a long record in educating British Prime Ministers. William Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair all studied at Oxford. In fact, from the first – Robert Walpole – to the last – David Cameron – 41 of Britain’s 55 Prime Ministers went to Oxford or Cambridge. In recent years […]
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9th February 2012 Athens, Greece
Championing London 2012 in Athens
Minister for Europe, David Lidington, visited Athens this week for official discussions. As everybody knows Greece has been going through very difficult times. Britain wants to see the Eurozone strong and successful, and so it is important that we work closely to understand the developments in Greece and support Greece’s efforts wherever we can. However, […]
9th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Volunteering in Ethiopia
Earlier this week, I met a group of volunteers from the British NGO Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) – some newly arrived in Ethiopia, several who have been working here for some time. VSO has a long and very successful history of operations in Ethiopia. And it is easily one of the most highly regarded charities […]
8th February 2012 London, UK
Completing the Digital Single Market
It is unbelievable that in a 21st century Europe there are still barriers to online transactions between EU Member States. Over 40% of Europeans buy goods online but less than 1 in 10 of us have bought something online from a trader in another EU country. It astounds me to see that there are still […]
8th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Australia in Oxford
There is a significant Australian presence at Oxford University, as in so many other aspects of UK life. I have just spent a fascinating day there. First, I attended the opening of the new global HQ of Australian company SAE Institute which runs 54 creative media training institutions in 26 countries around the world. The […]
6th February 2012 Washington DC, USA
A tale of Internet freedom and Charles Dickens
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… going to the UK this weekend. Flying into Heathrow on Saturday morning, I found Britain in great excitement about Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday. So it was clearly the best of times to head to Broadstairs, Dickens’ favourite holiday destination where he spent his […]
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6th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
60 Years of Service
6 February saw the start of the celebrations of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which will culminate this summer in a spectacular pageant on the River Thames in June. We can expect parties and fireworks, ceremonial and reflection on an extraordinary life devoted to public service. The Olympic and Paralympic Games in July and August will […]
3rd February 2012 Washington DC, USA
A Uniquely American Breakfast
Yesterday morning I had breakfast with three thousand people. It’s not every day that I can say that. This was the 60th annual National Prayer Breakfast, a key date in the political calendar of this city and country. It was a remarkable occasion. The sheer scale of the event was dizzying. So was the guest […]