12th September 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
On Wednesday 9 September, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second became the longest reigning monarch in more than a thousand years of British history. She has been on the throne for 63 years and seven months. Although we think of British democracy as old, we have only had universal franchise since 1928, just three years […]
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1st September 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
This blog celebrates the fact that today, on Tuesday 1 September, Sri Lanka became a fully fledged member of the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. Sri Lanka is the first country in South Asia, and only the second in Asia after Japan, to join this Convention. Cybercrime is any kind of crime committed with a computer […]
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21st August 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Monday’s general election was very tight. It was also remarkably peaceful. From the President and Elections Commissioner down, all involved have commented positively on the conduct of the election, many describing it as Sri Lanka’s best in decades. It’s not for the UK to support one party over another. Our interest is for Sri Lanka […]
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11th August 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
I spent this weekend on the coast near Galle, an immediate reminder of what a wonderful place Sri Lanka is to live and work. But though pleasure and leisure kept me there, it was work that took me. I’ve written recently about how our Consular team support British tourists in distress. On Friday, the team […]
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26th July 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
This year, we are celebrating fifty years of bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Maldives. That relationship started on 26 July 1965, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. That moment is captured in a famous photo, with Ibrahim Nasir Rannabandeyri Kilegefan, Prime Minister and Sir Micheal Walker, British Ambassador designate to the […]
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10th July 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka and the Maldives have never been more popular for beach-lovers, backpackers or Brits: over 144,000 British tourists visited Sri Lanka last year, and almost 16,000 holidayed in the Maldives in February alone this year. Around five thousand British Nationals have set down permanent or semi-permanent roots here too. For the most part, travellers […]
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16th June 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
For centuries, the Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in England in 1215, has been quoted to help promote human rights and alleviate suffering all around the world. This week, we are celebrating its 800th anniversary, and its continuing relevance today. To mark the anniversary, my colleagues at the UK Mission in Geneva hosted a […]
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27th May 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
On 14 May, Shakespeare’s Globe came to Colombo. Sri Lanka was their 96th stopover in their Globe to Globe challenge to perform Hamlet in every single country in the world. Here in Sri Lanka, they performed twice, a free matinee for 20 schools from across Colombo, and an evening production. Junior prefects from the British […]
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13th May 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
This year, Mental Health Awareness Week focuses on mindfulness. Mindfulness helps people observe the way they think and feel about their experiences, good or bad – a valuable tool for staying mentally healthy. It can help people with mental and physical health problems, from stress, depression and anxiety to chronic pain, eating disorders and concentration. Georgina […]
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28th April 2015
Colombo, Sri Lanka
On Saturday 25 April, I laid a wreath at the Borella Kanatta Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Colombo, at one of the two events organised that day by the Australian High Commission to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Allied landings at Gallipoli during the First World War. It was an opportunity to reflect again […]
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