1st October 2026
A Year Too Big for Two Suitcases: Notes From a Chevening Scholar
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
11th May 2026
The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill: turning a global ocean agreement into UK law
9th April 2026
The Gulf, Berlin and the Commission on the Status of Women: building global alliances to advance women’s progress
9th June 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The toughest exam in Ukraine
What’s the toughest thing you can do to a Ukrainian student sitting an important English oral exam? How about bringing in the British ambassador to watch your conversational efforts, together with the head of the training institute and a photographer? That’s what happens when I visit the Kharkiv Aviation University and am shown round the […]
7th June 2010 New York, USA
The Summer Season Begins
A short working week last week, with the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. Memorial Day and Fleet week are big events in the life of one of our most important New York Partners, the Intrepid museum, with whom we work closely on veterans issues. Welcome to Yorkshire have been busy promoting Yorkshire as great […]
4th June 2010 London, UK
24 hours in Brussels
I spent 24 hours in Brussels earlier this week for a packed schedule of meetings. As a city, Brussels has a somewhat unfair reputation for being rather dull and grey. I know from previous visits that there are some charming aspects to the place. Sadly on this occasion I saw little more than the inside […]
28th May 2010 New York, USA
The Poles North and South
Biggest news from the Consulate this week is the opening of the American Museum of Natural History’s exhibit on the Anatarctic expeditions of Scott and Amundsen to the South Pole. Why is the Consulate involved? Leaving aside the compelling history of the "race to the Pole", it’s a great way for us to get […]
28th May 2010 London, UK
My first two weeks as Minister for Europe
It was almost two weeks ago that the Prime Minister asked me to join the new coalition Government as Minister for Europe at the Foreign Office. Within two hours I was in my new office meeting my staff and planning briefings. I last worked in the FCO 20 years ago, when I was political adviser […]
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27th May 2010 Islamabad, Pakistan
The sky’s the limit
Whatever else Pakistanis may think about India, the evidence of economic growth there is hard to deny. Last week I visted Gurgaon, the new city outside New Delhi. It is mushrooming. Twelve years ago, when I last took a look, it practically wasn’t there. Now it has all the shopping malls, office blocks and building […]
26th May 2010
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
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
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 […]
7th May 2010 Islamabad, 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 […]