Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

14th July 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Ukrainians to Newcastle

You don’t get much better people-to-people links than by bringing a group of British and Ukrainian young people together to play football on the beach, explore theatre projects and check out urban regeneration and diversity.  Those were some of the results of a recent visit organised by the British Council with the Churches’ Regional Commission […]

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13th July 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

A moving military and human story

Four British medals are laid out on a Union Flag.  The family stand proudly as the Defence Attache says a few words, citing a moving text from the Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino in Italy which holds the graves over 1,000 Poles who died storming the abbey there in May 1944.  Then we present […]

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12th July 2011 Ottawa, Canada

Dispatch from Pond Inlet

This is part two in a series of blogs by High Commissioner Andrew Pocock on his recent trip to Canada’s Arctic region. Pond Inlet (Lat: 72’42” N; Long: 77’ 59” W) To Pond Inlet on 18 June (Waterloo Day!), pushing ever further north. The local name is Mittimatalik, and we stood on its shore, looking […]

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12th July 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

The rollerblading bride (and groom)

I suspect it’s not easy, rollerblading in a wedding dress. It’s probably even harder when you’re accompanied by several dozen smartly-dressed guests, also on rollerblades, and are taking a route which includes several steep hills and staircases. There are always risks in drawing conclusions about national characteristics, so I shall resist any suggestion that this recently-spotted […]

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11th July 2011 Toronto, Canada

Canada releases two major reports on innovation

This is John Preece guestblogging about recent reports issued by two of Canada’s influential advisory bodies – the federal Science, Technology and Innovation Council and the provincial Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity. The reports detail the current status and future directions of innovation in Canada: State of the Nation 2010 and Canada’s Innovation Imperative. Both […]

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11th July 2011

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Ukraine joins EU battle group

It’s easy to see international cooperation in black and white terms: either you’re “in” a particular body or organisation or you’re “out”.  This is often tied to “zero-sum” thinking, which argues that something which is good for one person or country has to be bad for another.  In reality, however, international relations includes a vast […]

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11th July 2011

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by Martin Harris

British Ambassador to Ukraine

Crime Mustn’t Pay

I was in Bulgaria last week, comparing notes with colleagues in our Embassy in Sofia. Asset recovery is an issue in both Romania and Bulgaria at the moment. The Bulgarian government has  developed a new draft law on Asset Forfeiture which is now being debated in the Parliament. Last month the European Commission for Democracy […]

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8th July 2011

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by Peter Beckingham

Former governor in Turks and Caicos Islands

A dark side of Mumbai – and a home away from ‘home’

A small group from the Deputy High Commission went after work one evening to a part of Mumbai we wouldn’t normally visit. Kamathipura has numerous small businesses, and like every part of the city is a great example of entrepreneurism. That evening we saw the dark side of business, calling on the founder  of an […]

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7th July 2011

Robin Twyman

by Robin Twyman

Consul for Business and Government Affairs

UK firms shine at BIO 2011

The following is a guest blog by Spencer Mahony, HM Consul & UKTI Regional Director for the South East US, British Embassy Washington. The 2011 BIO International Convention last week in Washington was an event of mind-boggling size: 15,000 attendees from around the globe descended on the Washington Convention Centre to showcase their biotechnology projects, […]

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7th July 2011

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by Martin Harris

British Ambassador to Ukraine

Romania’s first Pet Therapy Project – ‘Donkey Time’ in Voluntari

Guest blog: My wife, Linda McLachlan, visited recently a pet therapy project taking place in Voluntari, on the outskirts of Bucharest. The idea behind it is simple yet impressive – bring vulnerable children and mistreated animals together to help each other overcome their unfortunate past experiences.  ‘It’s long been argued that you can judge a […]

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