3rd December 2024
RENEWING OLD TIES: THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
A unique insight into UK foreign and development policy
25th November 2024
The climate crisis and gender-based violence
8th November 2024
Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
4th April 2017 New Delhi, India
India’s cool revolution
The Birmingham Energy Institute (BEI) brought out a twelve member UK delegation related to cold chain system, comprising of experts from BEI and companies to India in the week of 27 February 2017. Professor Toby Peters from BEI led this UK delegation. The aim of the visit was to forge new academic and industry collaborations, […]
31st March 2017 Abuja, Nigeria
A Peace Building Commonwealth – If We Use It Well
I’ll start with a potentially career-limiting admission: in recent years I hadn’t thought much about the Commonwealth. With UK-focussed (non-FCO) jobs and UK-focussed family life, it simply hasn’t been terribly visible to me. It brings memories of Steve Cram (my dad’s hero) winning races in the ‘80s, and a school trip to the Commonwealth Institute […]
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31st March 2017 Tripoli, Libya
Trolling from Tripoli
Social media is a global phenomenon. 1.8 billion people worldwide are on Facebook; 317 million use Twitter; Youtube has more viewers than most TV stations. It has become a powerful political tool too. World leaders use social media to broadcast their views. After last week’s terrorist attack in London, Prime Minister Theresa May used Facebook […]
31st March 2017 Kolkata, India
The next generation
The cross over point is arriving soon, at some point early in 2021. This is when India becomes the world’s most populous country, according to population projections produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of the United Nations. As of 2015, those in the cohort aged 25-29 years in China were the last […]
30th March 2017 London, UK
Digital Diplomacy: are we the champions?
Last year, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs brought together an interesting bunch of people from around the world, and me, to discuss digital diplomacy. I found myself speaking second on a panel. The first speaker announced the publication of the Digital Diplomacy Review 2016, ranking foreign ministries around the world. The United Kingdom was top. […]
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30th March 2017 Skopje, North Macedonia
Getting your kilo of tomatoes
On 29th March, the Deputy Head of Mission, Paul Edwards, spoke at a national conference to discuss the effectiveness of the state and public administration. The conference was part of an ongoing UK funded programme on monitoring administrative justice. This is what Paul said about the link between public services and tomatoes: The UK has […]
29th March 2017 London, UK
Visit to Leicester Faith School
Last week I had the pleasure to visit Leicester, one of the most diverse places in the UK and home to the UK Premier League champions! I was there to spend time at an Islamic faith school to share my reflections with 14-16 year old young Muslims about my journey to the UK as a […]
29th March 2017 Tokyo
Behind the scenes at the museum: treasures from the natural world draw the crowds in Japan
A visit to one of London’s museums, with free entrance to the public, is one of the highlights of a trip to the capital for many tourists. For the Natural History Museum, a world-famous attraction, foreign visitors now make up around 60% of the five million people enjoying its galleries, exhibitions, events and education programmes […]
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28th March 2017 Vienna, Austria
Legal highs and “NPS”: concrete steps
What do Project NEPTUNE and New Zealand have in common? Both are working to tackle the problem of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), also known as legal highs. I recently opened an expert panel in Vienna, organised by the UK and New Zealand with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, on tackling NPS. The New […]
28th March 2017
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Not Just Someone Else’s Problem: Prevention of Torture
Over the past fortnight I have spent a lot of time reading and thinking about prevention of torture. As a diplomat my professional interest has largely related previously to relevant international conventions and to countries that disregard international obligation and use torture as a means of intimidation or coercion. As a UK citizen I have […]
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