9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
22nd December 2025
Continuing to grow the global alliance for women and girls
17th August 2018 London,UK
The Government Art Collection
After four fascinating years as ambassador in Romania, I started a new role last month as Head of Soft Power and External Affairs Department in the FCO Communication Directorate. I thought it would be interesting to use this blog to explore the sources of British soft power and its complex relationship to government. Exploration started with our […]
16th August 2018 Stockholm, Sweden
Entering the Era of the Smart Grid & Flexibility Markets
In recent years an array of technological innovations and macroeconomic factors have acted in concert to instigate a complete transformation of the institutional framework and infrastructure that characterises today’s energy system and was initially conceived to support large centralised hydrocarbon energy generation. While the electricity grid (one of the most comprehensive and complicated infrastructure ever […]
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16th August 2018 Morocco, Rabat
A Year in Morocco
09 August 2018 – A year ago today, my family and I drove into Tarifa to take the ferry across the Straits and begin our adventure in Morocco. As we looked across at the glowering Rif Mountains, we all felt both excited and apprehensive. Although I had been to Morocco three times before, I had […]
16th August 2018
The greatest show on earth
I was in my home town of Edinburgh last week. August is a great time to be in Scotland’s capital city. The Edinburgh International Festival was born out of the destruction of the Second World War, its creators conceiving it as a “platform for the flowering of the human spirit”. From modest beginnings in 1947, […]
9th August 2018 London, UKBerlin, Germany
Flying the flag for diversity, respect and tolerance
We in the UK and Germany have come a long way over the past decades in the fight for tolerance, diversity and sexual equality. And we have achieved a great deal. Today it almost easy to forget that homosexual relations were illegal less than 50 years ago in both countries. Since then, many small steps […]
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9th August 2018
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Hvala i vidimo se
“Sarajevo, ljubavi moja”. Sarajevo, my love. That was the song I sang at my leaving party. But, after four years exploring the length and breadth of this remarkable and beautiful country, it should really have been: “Bosno i Hercegovino, ljubavi moja.” Working as the UK Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina has been the most demanding […]
7th August 2018 London, UK
Does sex make you smarter?
As a blog title this is shamefully attention grabbing. But you are now reading. Actually this is my last blog as Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) and I want to briefly review my five and a half years with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. But honestly, the title is relevant as you will see if you […]
6th August 2018
Saving pangolins: London Zoo helps train customs agents in Cameroon to fight illegal trade
In Cameroon, endangered pangolins are sold for their meat and smuggled to Asia for their scales. Conservationists and the government of Cameroon are intensifying their efforts to clamp down on this illegal trade.
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2nd August 2018 Canberra, Australia
100 years, 100 reasons why Armistice matters
Note: This article originally published in The Australian newspaper on 3rd August 2018. In exactly 100 days, the world will pause to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice. This historic agreement brought an end to the slaughter of World War I. The anniversary of these six signatures in a railway carriage in Compiegne, France, remains deeply relevant. […]
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2nd August 2018 Auckland, New Zealand
Teachers! (Don’t) Leave those Kids Alone (teach them more science)
It was a pleasure to welcome back the National Space Academy to Beijing last week to undertake further master teaching classes, and in the process showcase a model of education that excites and inspires. My previous blogs have explored the style of teaching, so I do not need to repeat here. Moreover the added bonus […]
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