25th April 2024
Reflect & Remember: Anzac Day 2024
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
23rd April 2024
Good English – A Key to Panama’s Future Success
21st March 2024
Forests in focus on International Day of Forests
26th July 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Extreme climbing in Kyiv
There’s sometimes an inverse relationship between the quality of an experience you’re undergoing and your ability to photograph it. Especially when the experience involves scrambling up a ladder inside the arm of a giant statue; squeezing through a trapdoor; then sticking your head out of the top of a stainless steel shield far above the […]
21st July 2010 London, UK
Questions please!
I’d like to receive your views and questions about Britain’s policies on Europe. It seems sensible to do this through my blog. Watch the video below to find out more about the issues I’ve been working on, and then submit your questions using the comment function at the bottom of the blog page. I look […]
20th July 2010 London, UK
A blog from Kazakhstan
Find out about the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in this week’s video blog.
16th July 2010 New York, USA
The Queen opens the British Garden
Guest blog by Sheila O’Connor, Her Majesty’s Consul. I was proud and privileged to have been asked to coordinate the practical arrangements for Her Majesty The Queen’s visit to the British Memorial Garden on 6 July. The Garden in Hanover Square has been built in memory of the 67 British citizens who lost their lives […]
14th July 2010 London, UK
A trip to Budapest
Here’s my latest video blog, this time reflecting on my recent trip to Budapest!
7th July 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How to stop censorship in Ukraine
Is there a risk of an upsurge in censorship in Ukraine? If there is, what can Ukrainians do about it? And what if anything should outsiders such as foreign governments and diplomats be doing? These are all questions which come up when I host a lunch at the Residence for Ukrainian journalists and media activists. […]
5th July 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
A deep partnership
The Cabinet Ministers of the new British coalition government are queuing up to come to Pakistan. In the past three weeks I have hosted both our new International Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell, and our new Foreign Minister, William Hague. It makes sense. Pakistan is already Britain’s second largest development programme and this is quite likely […]
28th June 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Pumps, turbines & degrees – from Pune to Warwick & Glasgow
The British Business Group in Pune invited me to their AGM (Annual General Meeting) in mid June. Pune is Maharashtra State’s second largest city and I have heard estimates of a population between four to six million. The national census this year should give the figure. Pune is the major centre for the automotive sector […]
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11th June 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Second tier cities, first class business opportunities
Many people are talking about India’s ‘Second Tier’ cities. The phrase doesn’t strike me as the kindest, with the hint that they haven’t quite made the grade. But it is commonly used, to differentiate the large number of growing two million plus cities from the huge metropolises like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. I visited briefly […]
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11th June 2010 New York, USA
Explorers Here, Climate Map There, Penguins Everywhere
Today a guest blog from Clare Risman, Vice Consul for Devolved Administrations at the Consulate. Growing up in London, the Natural History Museum was one of my favourite places. My children share a similar sense of excitement and wonder at the delights of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) – their imaginations have been inspired […]
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