8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
17th October 2024
OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
11th October 2024
Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
9th October 2017 London, UK
Why we need to do away with the death penalty
It was Monday morning and my boss called me into his office, “I want you to go to Jamaica.” “When” I asked innocently, “tomorrow” he replied passing me a one way ticket. So began my journey into defending the rights of those facing the death penalty. It was 1992 and I was just 24 years […]
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8th October 2017 Tripoli, Libya
Unity of Purpose
Last month the world’s leaders gathered in New York. The agenda included many pressing issues: North Korea, Burma, Modern Slavery. It also included a high-level event on Libya. The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by underlining its historic importance. There was a window of opportunity to resolve the crisis in Libya by […]
6th October 2017 UK, London
One month since Hurricane Irma
Today marks a month since Hurricane Irma struck, bringing devastation to our Overseas Territories of Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. On my visit to the Turks and Caicos Islands, I saw first-hand the destruction Hurricane Irma caused, particularly to the capital, Grand Turk; houses reduced to rubble, livelihoods destroyed. The […]
5th October 2017 Toronto, Canada
Transformative Technologies: UK-Ontario Look to the Future
The United Kingdom and the Canadian province of Ontario are both leading global centres of science and innovation and are investing in many of the same transformative sectors. To provide a platform that will help to further the ties between the two jurisdictions, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Transformative Technologies was signed in Toronto […]
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5th October 2017 Kolkata, India
The creativity of the Durga Puja
I can’t think of anything to compare with the festival of Durga Puja. It is not just a religious festival with its own rituals. It is also a celebration of life. It is a time of renewal and forgiving. And probably many more things – it’s not an easy task for an outsider to get […]
4th October 2017 Vienna, Austria
A year of my regional visits
Since starting my posting as Ambassador in Vienna in September 2016, I have had the pleasure of visiting almost every Austrian state, from Vorarlberg to Lower Austria. Along the way, I have met dozens of businesses, including importers of British products to Austria, and Austrian companies with a significant presence in the UK. I have […]
3rd October 2017 Tokyo, Japan
Pig in Japan
Hosting the Tokyo launch of Peppa Pig last week made a nice change from giving speeches about Brexit and worrying about North Korean missile tests. The hugely popular British cartoon character which has been a favourite with children around the world, since its inception in 2004 has finally come to Japan. The Japanese with their […]
2nd October 2017 Geneva, Switzerland
Double Vision
Council sessions leave your head spinning. Anyone who gets through one without feeling like it was full body and soul experience wasn’t really there. And it’s particularly trying for the families we abandon to meet the Council’s callous workload. If, like me, you’re lucky enough to have an understanding partner, for the first few days […]
28th September 2017 Hanoi, Vietnam
Be slow… to go fast!
Did you know that 28 September is International Right to Know Day? No? Neither did I until one of my colleagues suggested I write a blog. For most civil servants in the UK sharing information with the public is second nature. This is because the UK Parliament passed a Freedom of Information Act in 2000 […]
28th September 2017 Beijing, China
Sensors for just about everything
Fibre optic cables with acoustic sensing that can be laid alongside railways or oil and gas pipelines to detect faults or security threats; lasers that can detect different types of gases and pollutants with very high precision; sensors that measure water loss across the skin barrier that can be used in cosmetics or diagnostics; sensors […]