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26th September 2011 Geneva, Switzerland
False starts, prizes and little bits of history
The second week of the September Human Rights Council session was a typically frantic affair, as delegations scrambled to finalise the resolutions that they would present before Thursday’s deadline. Getting resolutions in tends to be a quite scrappy business, more like a school sports day three-legged race than a gracious Olympic sprint. Countries have quite […]
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26th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Strategic Dialogue talks in London, Olympic sites in Stratford
Last week I attended the annual Strategic Dialogue talks with senior officials from the Foreign Office, Defence and other agencies, and their Australian counterparts. They took place at the Foreign Secretary’s historic London residence in Carlton Gardens. We covered a very broad range of foreign policy issues from Asia to Afghanistan, the Middle East and […]
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24th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Habeas Corpus
Many important 20th anniversaries have been marked in Central and Eastern Europe recently. But so far no one has recalled that it is 20 years since the British Embassy in Budapest staged Alan Bennett’s “Habeas Corpus” to an ecstatic local audience. At that time there was a dearth of Englsh language theatre in Hungary. The […]
23rd September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Friends in Need
Our Foreign Secretary has just written to thank Foreign Minister Martonyi for the outstanding help provided by the Hungarian Embassy in Tripoli over the past few tumultuous weeks. During this time, the Embassy has provided vital help and support to nationals from the UK and other EU countries – travel documents, practical advice and liaison […]
23rd September 2011 Toronto, Canada
Canada-UK joint declaration: "A stronger partnership for the 21st century"
Yesterday saw the signing of a joint declaration by the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Canada. As part of a wider North American trip, David Cameron made a brief visit to Ottawa yesterday and signed the Canada-UK joint declaration entitled A stronger partnership for the 21st century. Of particular interest to the Science […]
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23rd September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Lviv literature
A guest blog by Martin Dowle, Director, British Council The west Ukrainian city of Lviv is an intriguing location for a literature festival. Breath-taking views of spires and domes, offset with hidden courtyards, make this city on the cusp between East and West a crossroads for cultural exchange. Some 300 events are packed into four […]
22nd September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Conservation in Practice
I was in the Pauline-Carmelite Monastery at Sopronfalva this morning. Lovingly and beautifully restored through the vision of Gabor Kovacs (KOGART), it is now a hotel, conference facility and meditation centre. It’s an excellent example of how a cultural heritage conservation project can be integrated into a local community. But today the monastery was the […]
22nd September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Development and Faith
I have just returned from a short visit to London, where I took the opportunity to meet Chris Bain, the Director of CAFOD, the principal Catholic charity in England and Wales (its main partners in the United Kingdom are SCIAF in Scotland, and Trocaire in Northern Ireland – which also operates in the Republic of […]
22nd September 2011 London, UK
An old alliance, modern challenges
This was my first visit to Portugal as Europe Minister. As well as being one of Europe (and the world’s) oldest alliances, the relationship between the UK and Portugal is based on close trade and economic links. During my visit I was pleased to meet several top Portuguese investors all of whom have interests in […]
21st September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I will remember Massachusetts
“To be honest, the first things that come to mind when I think of Massachusetts are Sam Adams ale, the Kennedys, the Red Sox, the original Tea Party….and the Bee Gees (“feel I’m going back to Massachusetts”, sung at notes too painful for me to reach). But having spent two days this week in Boston, […]