19th September 2012 Ottawa, Canada
I’ve discovered the wonders of spandex recently. For the second year in a row, I’ve had the privilege to participate, with a number of my colleagues here at the British High Commission, in a terrific local charity event called Ride the Rideau. Our team, dubbed “Brits on Bikes”, is not made up of the athletic […]
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17th September 2012 Ottawa, Canada
I attended the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Britain at Ottawa’s Aviation Museum on 16 September, under flawless blue skies – a bit like during the Battle itself – and in the presence of the Chief of Air Staff, veterans, cadets and members on parade of the Royal Canadian Air Force. I said the […]
3rd September 2012
Last weekend was a great weekend for Romania at the London 2012 velodrome. Many congratulations to Eduard Novak for first beating the world record in the qualifiers for the Men’s Individual C4 Pursuit, and then going on to win Romania’s first ever Paralympics Gold Medal in the final. Eduard is an amazing athlete, making his […]
23rd August 2012
The Foreign Office made a statement yesterday evening on the political situation in Romania. Romania has had a long, hot summer. My hope (as an optimist) is that temperatures will fall in the autumn and that the focus will be on economic and institutional reform and strengthening the rule of law. There are important decisions […]
20th June 2012 Ottawa, Canada
War fever is racing down the river! Actually, war commemoration fever, as the many ceremonies to mark the War of 1812 begin. I had the pleasure of attending two fascinating events in the last week. The first, at Ottawa’s excellent War Museum, is called: 1812: One War, Four Perspectives. Its curator is Dr Peter MacLeod, […]
31st May 2012 Ottawa, Canada
I haven’t blogged much recently, as we’ve been launching the GREAT campaign across Canada. GREAT as in Britain, and it asks Canadians to take a new look at the Old Country. You’ll be surprised by what you see. All the things you’d expect in the history and tradition departments – and we’re on the verge of […]
14th May 2012
I very recently took part in the launch of a new book covering the most remarkable chapter in the history of relations between Britain and Romania. Professor Costel Coroban has researched and presented the extraordinary story of the Scottish women’s ambulance corps (known as the Grey Partridges because of the colour of their uniforms). This […]
24th April 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Guest blog from Head of Global Issues Group Euan Wallace: Last month I found myself at Lancaster House attending an Foreign Office/Wilton Park Conference: “A climate and resource security dialogue for the 21st Century.” The conference had been many months in the planning and I was lucky to get a place alongside a few other […]
18th April 2012 Ottawa, Canada
Today we begin the 100 day countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the 30th Olympiad – in London, on 27 July 2012. There will be events at many other sites around the United Kingdom. But eyes will turn to London: the only city to host the Games three times. It’ll be a […]
29th March 2012 Ottawa, Canada
On Monday evening the High Commissioner and I attended a reception at the Canadian House of Commons to celebrate the opening of a Library exhibit commemorating 70 years since Churchill’s world-renowned “Some chicken! Some neck!” speech. Few Canadians, I know, will be confused by that reference. But for the uninitiated, this was from Winston Churchill’s […]