Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs

A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy

26th May 2010

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by Peter Beckingham

Former governor in Turks and Caicos Islands

From Manchester to Mumbai – Bringing life to new Indian retail outlets

My aim for this new blog is to provide snapshots every two weeks from Mumbai illustrating the vibrancy of UK–Indian business relations.  I am fortunate to meet in my job hundreds of UK and Indian businesspeople, ranging from the heads of some of the UK’s largest companies,  and India’s ( and the world’s!) richest businessmen, […]

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22nd May 2010

by Judith Macgregor

British High Commissioner to South Africa

The new government and the British Week in Mexico

“British Week is part of the Think Britain campaign to publicize what’s going in Britain, what’s happening with British here in Mexico, to encourage more trade, to encourage more visits, just to get a better understanding and knowledge between our two countries…”. Watch this video in Spanish

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18th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan

by Adam Thomson

British High Commissioner to Pakistan

Britain decides!

For British citizens the outcome of last week’s General Election has been pretty remarkable.  For the first time since the Second World War we have a coalition government.  And we have the prospect of some quite substantial constitutional change: legislation to give Parliament a fixed term of five years, a referendum on whether to move […]

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7th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan

by Adam Thomson

British High Commissioner to Pakistan

An historic consensus

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s National Assembly voted 292 to 0 to amend the country’s Constitution, passing more power from the President to the Prime Minister and from the centre to the provincial governments. The Senate followed suit and the amendment has been signed into law. The change restores the Constitution to something closer to the […]

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19th April 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan

by Adam Thomson

British High Commissioner to Pakistan

Why the EU matters for Pakistan

Many Pakistanis have never heard of the European Union.  Still fewer know what it is.  But when Prime Minister Gilani met 16 of the European Union’s Ambassadors in Peshawar recently, it was natural for him to do so. The European Union is Pakistan’s largest trading partner (two-way trade was worth €7.5 billion in 2008, approximately […]

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1st April 2010 New York, USA

Climate and New Jersey

Guest blog by Jane Kozinski, Senior Policy Adviser on Climate Change In his last blog post, Dominic mentioned two of my favourite subjects – “climate” and New Jersey (my home state).  So, I felt inspired to write in. Last week Sir Alan Collins and I visited Rutgers University’s Center for European Studies where we participated […]

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26th March 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan

by Adam Thomson

British High Commissioner to Pakistan

Celebrating a proud Pakistan!

In response to an earlier blog of mine someone asked whether I really meant my description of Pakistan as a proud country or whether I was just being polite.  I was not just being polite.  I meant proud.  And proud in ways that diplomats like me need to understand and remember.   The celebration of Pakistan […]

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22nd March 2010 New York, USA

St. Patrick’s Day

St Patricks Day in New York is something everyone should see once.  I was once told that about 500,000 New Yorkers can claim Irish ancestry.  Each 17 March, it feels more like a few million.    For us, St Patricks Day brings in visitors from Northern Ireland, including Shaun Woodward MP and Martin McGuinness MP […]

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