8th May 2012 Dublin, Ireland
On Sunday, I realised a lifelong ambition. I flew for the first time in an open biplane, a 1939 Tiger Moth, owned by a great friend of the Embassy Jacek Mainka. Not only was it an extraordinary experience to fly in a 73-year-old aircraft, but it was also a poignant moment since my father learnt […]
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17th April 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Deregulation or making it easier to do business is key to a successful growth agenda. I recently joined a panel at SGH (Warsaw School of Economics) on the important theme of deregulation. Governments everywhere are regularly criticised for imposing too many regulatory burdens on business, especially small business, and thereby hampering growth. The SGH discussion […]
4th April 2012 Dublin, Ireland
It has been a busy few weeks. A few highlights. Working with some great British companies particularly during the visit of Susan Haird (Deputy CEO of UKTI). There are some big opportunities, not least in the energy field where there is great interest in exploiting the shale gas and civil nuclear opportunities and in infrastructure, […]
10th February 2012 Nairobi, Kenya
It’s been quite a fortnight. At the end of January, I accompanied the UK Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, to the AU Summit in Addis Ababa and then to Somalia. In Dollow – the first time a British Minister has visited southern Somalia in recent years, Mr Mitchell saw for himself the huge difference that UKaid […]
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2nd February 2012 Washington DC, USA
It has been a whirlwind three weeks since my arrival in Washington. I’ve visited the White House to present my credentials to President Obama and watched from the House gallery as he delivered his State of the Union address. I’ve travelled outside of D.C., seeing the South Carolina Republican primary at first-hand and meeting with […]
25th January 2012 Dublin, Ireland
I’m just back from a visit to the UK to promote the opportunities that Poland offers for British business and to discuss how to strengthen further the links between us after the successful Polish Presidency. London’s streets are hard on the feet. But everywhere I went, I found a lot of enthusiasm for more engagement […]
20th January 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’m not sure if it was nerves, enthusiasm, or a combination of the two, but the atmosphere in the Embassy here in Washington DC was palpably different this week. Ties and new haircuts had been acquired by colleagues over the weekend. And—clearly a sign that something was up—we were all early to the regular Embassy-wide […]
13th October 2011
This week, for almost the first time since I arrived in Ukraine in June 2008, Ukraine has been the number one item on the BBC World News website and in other media around the world. Friends have been getting in touch to ask me what’s going on, and where Ukraine is going. It’s an important […]
15th September 2011
The Papal Visit to the United Kingdom last year, exactly one year ago this week, was an extraordinary moment in the relationship between my country and the Holy See. It was the first State Visit by a Pope, and in the Prime Minister’s words “an incredibly moving four days for our country”. It emphasised the […]
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9th September 2011
This is my first blog entry as HM Ambassador to the Holy See – indeed, the first time a British Ambassador to the Holy See has had a blog. At a time when the Holy See is itself hosting meetings of bloggers from all over the world, and the Pope is tweeting, I think it […]
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