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Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Blogs
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OSLOBOĐENJE BEOGRADA
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Busting the gender myths – women and organised crime
20th December 2016 Vientiane, Laos
The Lao National Assembly – recent developments and scope for UK support
Britain’s most famous constitutionalist, Walter Bagehot, once described Parliament as “nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.” His wry comment may have contained a grain of truth about the aristocrats who dominated Britain’s 19thC chamber. But it wouldn’t be a fair depiction of today’s National Assembly (NA) in Laos. Its […]
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20th December 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The ice-breaker Krasin: 100 Years in the History of Russia and the UK
I was delighted to be invited to participate in the opening of a new exhibition in honour of the ice-breaker Krasin at the Presidential Library in St Petersburg on 15 December. The exhibition may have been called ‘The ice-breaker Krasin: 100 Years in the History of Russia’, but as regular readers of my blog will […]
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16th December 2016 Tripoli, Libya
One Year After Skhirat
Today is the first anniversary of the signing of the Libya Political Agreement (LPA) in Skhirat, Morocco. I well recall the euphoria, expectation and excitement of the moment. There was a sense that the divisions and polarisation that had plagued Libya since the revolution were over. Now was the time to rebuild, restore and recover […]
16th December 2016
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Re-writing History
BiH has a lot of history, and a lot of different versions of it. But it’s worrying to see how the histories of war and of peace are being re-written to promote the political agendas of different groups. The newspapers are full of arguments about the past. Much less attention is paid to the future. […]
15th December 2016 New Delhi, India
UK-India collaboration on waste water management
Dr Richard Allan, Head of the Centre of Expertise for Waters at the James Hutton Institute was invited by the Science and Innovation Network (SIN) India in November this year. He along with Dr Stephen Perry from the Hydro Industries and Martin Shouler from Arup were helping us with identifying potential opportunities of joint UK-India […]
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15th December 2016 Beijing, China
Developing the first UK-China joint strategy on science and innovation
On 6th December I attended the 4th UK-China People to People Dialogue which is chaired by Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Jeremy Hunt. It covers a range of issues including science and innovation, education, health and culture. John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Advisor at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, travelled to Shanghai to […]
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15th December 2016 Canberra, Australia
Leaving, not leaving
My time here is up. For over four years I have been proud to bear the title of the United Kingdom’s Deputy High Commissioner to Australia. It’s the best job I’ve ever had, working with some of the best people I’ve ever met. Large parts of me don’t want to go, but four years is […]
14th December 2016 Shanghai
Speeding up the search for alien life
It was just over sixty years ago that radio telescopes across England discovered a series of mysterious meteorites entering the Earth’s orbit. A leading scientist from the British Rocket Group was sent to investigate and he was shocked to discover these meteorites were part of an alien life form, a life form that emitted a […]
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13th December 2016 Vienna, Austria
#GlobalBritain: some remarkable statistics
As an Ambassador constantly meeting people of all nationalities interested in the impact of the 23 June vote by the UK to leave the European Union, I am an avid follower of statistics. So for ease of reference, I’ve put together a few of those which have caught my eye. Vienna Globenmuseum The fact Britain […]
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13th December 2016 Delhi, India
UK IP enforcement – Sharing best practices
The UK Intellectual Property Office’s Intelligence Hub Head – Huw Watkins – led discussions with officials of the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police on intellectual property infringement practices. The discussions covered prevalent modes of infringement, tracking the source of fake goods, prominent fake goods routes and how UK IPO’s Enforcement Directorate works to […]
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