1st August 2016 London, UK
Four years ago tonight I watched in awe as Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony in Stratford launched the start of what would become the most amazing Olympic Games the world had ever seen. London 2012 proved a defining moment for our country. The inevitable pre Games gloom – problems with the M4 corridor from Heathrow into […]
7th July 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
The British Council in Macedonia marks its 20th anniversary in 2016. We celebrate two decades of building cultural and education relations between Macedonia and the United Kingdom. It is the time when we reflect back and see the fruits of our work in creating links and understanding between British and Macedonian institutions, professionals and communities […]
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29th October 2015 Havana, Cuba
One phrase stood out from the Italian Prime Minister’s speech at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana yesterday. Prime Minister Renzi said that even though Italy might not be a superpower in some areas, it should be considered ‘a cultural superpower’ given the strength of its architecture, music and art. Having spent a few […]
14th August 2015 Islamabad, Pakistan
The first week back from a holiday brings a fresh perspective and a new impetus to your work. While of course the day-to-day business of diplomacy goes on – as witnessed by the successful visit to Pakistan by the Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon – it is a chance to step back and […]
9th August 2012 Islamabad, Pakistan
When visiting my regular family summer holiday spot in North Wales each year as a child, it was unimaginable that one day I would be taking my first (and hopefully not my last) summer holiday in the Baltistan region of Pakistan. Since arriving on my diplomatic posting to Pakistan earlier this year at the British […]
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5th July 2012 Athens, Greece
London 2012 has been a major FCO priority this year, for British Embassy Athens especially. For 6th century BC city-state diplomats the Olympics was but one of four ancient Greek sporting contests to organise. Mythology suggests the Nemean games were founded by Herakles, having completed the first of his labours – wrestling the Nemean Lion. […]
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29th February 2012 Athens, Greece
One of the areas I’m working on in the Embassy is the GREAT campaign which is designed to promote the UK abroad. Under the new brand the Embassy is able to join forces with the British Council and other local partners and showcase what UK has to offer. The campaign message is simple and our […]
29th December 2011
One of my favourite events in Kyiv is the BBC Book of the Year Award, sponsored by the BBC Ukrainian Service. I’ve presented the winner with the prize for the last four years, including in 2010 and this year — you can see a report on the prize, including details of the shortlist and the […]
26th November 2010
Science fiction has a fine record of guessing the future; but no-one saw the Internet coming. Honourable mention should be made of the excellent works of William Gibson, credited with inventing the term cyberspace. Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer, which includes references to something called the Matrix, made a big impression on me. So did the […]
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