10th December 2015
London, UK
I gave a radio interview yesterday. Unexpectedly I was asked why I had joined the British Diplomatic Service 25 years ago. In the midst of my off-the-cuff answer I found myself talking about the opportunity to serve, the opportunity to make a positive difference to people’s lives and the chance to make a small contribution […]
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26th July 2012
Washington DC, USA
I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks of the movie Top Gun when they hear about “fighter jets.” So when we learned that the UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond was coming to the United States to officially accept the UK’s first of the next-generation stealth combat aircraft, I had a hard time not […]
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23rd July 2012
Washington DC, USA
British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond was in the US last week. Nothing unusual there you might expect. British Defence Secretaries do indeed see their American counterparts pretty regularly. What struck me about this visit though was the focus on the future. For ten years we have been the closest partners in the military operations of […]
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23rd April 2012
Washington DC, USA
At the 18 April meeting of the NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Brussels, the British Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond announced a firm UK commitment to help fund the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) after 2014. He said “The UK contribution of £70m per annum to the funds to support the Afghan National Security Forces will make […]
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