Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

23rd December 2010

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Review of the year

<![CDATA[ The end of the year is always a time for reflection. What did we do over the last year? What could we have done better? What will we try to achieve in the year ahead? 2010 has been another busy year for Bolivian-British relations. We have had a number of visits in both directions, […]

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22nd December 2010

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by Leigh Turner

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

I can burn your face

You’ve got to admire the Dutch secret service, the AIVD, for their low profile.  In fact when I see references to them in a show by US artist Jill Magid at the Tate Modern in London I log onto Google when I get home to check they exist.  Even the Wikipedia entry notes that “there is […]

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22nd December 2010 Ottawa, Canada

Guest Blog: Improving the impact of development research through better communication and uptake

In this post our guest blogger Elin Gwyn, a research analyst from OMAFRA, speaks to her experience attending the “Improving the impact of development research through better communication and uptake” workshop in London.  Over to Elin! Elin Gwyn On a frosty morning on November 29 I found myself crossing Westminster Bridge, looking down at the boats […]

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21st December 2010

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by Peter Beckingham

Former governor in Turks and Caicos Islands

A 350 km walk through the Indian countryside, £100,000 raised for charities – and memories for life

I am proud and a little relieved that my wife completed her trek in the footsteps of Gandhi. I am proud and a little relieved to write after my last blog that my wife completed her 350 kilometre trek in the footsteps of Gandhi’s famous Salt March of 1930 at the beginning of December. The […]

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19th December 2010

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by Greg Dorey

Diplomat

6 shopping days to Christmas, 12 to the Hungarian Presidency

I have spent the last week in cold, wet, snowy London and hope I am not going to be stuck here for too much longer by flight cancellations due to the snow. This is as a result of the huge, current level of interest in Hungary and how it is going to manage its EU […]

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17th December 2010

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by Leigh Turner

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

Public private partnerships

When the Lord Mayor of London visited Kyiv in September 2009 he drew attention to the immense expertise of British financial institutions in developing Public Private Partnership or PPP.  This is an arrangement where a private organisation assumes the risk of financing and building anything from a bridge to a hospital on the basis of […]

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16th December 2010

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Migration to the UK

The issue of immigration is an emotive one. In countries that are net recipients of migrants, such as my own, immigration is often high on the political agenda. At a time of economic recession, when every job counts, migrants are often accused of “taking away” the jobs of others born in the country but unemployed. […]

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16th December 2010

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by Leigh Turner

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

Holidays in Chernobyl

The UK and international press have reacted with intrigue to the suggestion that Chernobyl, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, could be a new tourist hotspot.  In fact as some reports have noted, it has been possible to visit the site, along with the nearby abandoned Soviet-era city of Pripyat, for several years. I visited […]

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15th December 2010

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by Martin Harris

British Ambassador to Ukraine

Craiova: the advantages of British investment

I was in Craiova in early December to look at the climate for British investment. I visited one of the largest British investments in the region, the plant run by Cummins Generator Technologies which manufactures electrical generators in a joint venture with Electroputere Craiova. Cummins have installed new equipment and refurbished the existing machines at […]

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