26th February 2026
Different Memories, Shared Futures: Why Inclusive Remembrance Matters for Serbia and the Region
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
22nd December 2025
Continuing to grow the global alliance for women and girls
17th December 2025
MAKING LIFE SAFER, FOR EVERYONE
8th May 2018 London, UK
The Red Cross and Red Crescent: everywhere for everyone
Today (8 May) is World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, a day to celebrate the incredible work of our staff and volunteers around the world. Every year the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement supports millions of people affected by conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies through its network of 191 national societies,14 million […]
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8th May 2018
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Britain in Craiova
As part of our ongoing campaign, #BritainInRomania, to illustrate the close ties between our two countries, the British Embassy has been working with museums across Romania in all those cities which have at one stage hosted a British Consulate. This took me last month to the Museum of Oltenia in Craiova, for the launch of […]
7th May 2018 Beijing, China
Improved Life Ahead with Newton Fund Projects
This March, I visited three research and development projects jointly funded by Chinese and UK government that are tackling the problem of clean energy, mobility and aging via the Newton Fund: China-UK Research and Innovation Bridges competition. Transition and access to affordable, reliable and clean energy systems is vital for mitigating further climate change and […]
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3rd May 2018
South African wildlife photographer on saving Africa’s rhinos
Remember that heart-wrenching picture that flashed round the world last year of the poached rhino with its horn roughly sawn off by the waterhole against South Africa’s grey skies?
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3rd May 2018 London, UK
You’re not entitled to your own facts
Pat Moynihan famously said, ‘everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.’ Those words have never been more poignant. We’re living through an era where disinformation increasingly cascades through our newsfeeds and across our airwaves. The concept of truth, a fundamental building block for developing consensus and shared understanding is under […]
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3rd May 2018 Vienna, Austria
#ViennaMemories #7: the “Robox” blotter
If you watch period dramas such as “The Crown”, where characters write letters with fountain pens, you may see on desks a lozenge-shaped or a semi-circular blotter. Their purpose was to absorb excess ink, particularly from signatures, so that it would not smudge if the paper came into contact with something else. I like fountain […]
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2nd May 2018 Morocco, Rabat
A Moroccan Road-Trip
Behind us the mayhem of bucking and rearing horses and their falling riders continued unabated – the wind kicking up their tempers as easily as it picked up the fine dust of the Sahara. In front of us, Leah and her team slowly rode into the swirl of the sand-storm. Until, like half-imagined phantoms, they […]
30th April 2018 Science and Innovation Network
The Lancaster China Catalyst Programme – Fuelling innovation and learning in China
Over the last four years, the Lancaster China Catalyst Programme (LCCP) has been working with SMEs from the UK to establish collaborative research and innovation partnerships with Chinese companies in the Guangzhou area on projects related to the Environment, IT and Engineering. The Programme was established by Lancaster University in response to national interests […]
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20th April 2018 Gaborone, Botswana
Ending wildlife crime across the Commonwealth
In this part of the world, elephants can wander through three different Commonwealth countries before lunch. Their routes are ancient, learned from generations of ancestors, and even a physical border like a river is no challenge to them.
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19th April 2018 London, UK
British Ambassador’s speech at the Queen’s Birthday Party in Abu Dhabi
Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen Welcome! And thank you for joining this celebration. Your Highness, Sheikh Nahayan Mubarak Al Nahayan, Minister for Tolerance, it is a great honour that you are here with us again this year. And the honour is all the greater because this is your fourth visit to this garden […]
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