16th October 2011
Napoleon said that an Army marches on its stomach. So what’s the connection between food and war? Most wars are about ideology, nationalism or territory. Very often the reason for conflict over territory is to do with growing food. There might be a fight to gain richer soil, easier access to water or better grazing […]
16th October 2011
Today is Blog Action Day 2011 and the subject is food. Food has a huge impact on our very existence, from the state of our countryside to the length of our lives. And in recent years food security has become a major security risk for everyone, alongside terrorism and arms proliferation – a problem we […]
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13th October 2011
There was encouraging news yesterday, with 200 political prisoners released in Burma. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “I welcome the news that a number of political prisoners have been released. … We look forward to the hopes for genuine change coming to fruition, and to seeing news of further releases and progress on other […]
13th October 2011 Windhoek, Namibia
It is international Blog Action Day (BAD) 2011 this Sunday 16 October and the topic for this year is food. Last year the FCO took an active part in this event and is encouraging its bloggers around the world to contribute to the food theme from our unique international and local perspectives. Having only been […]
13th October 2011 London, UK
The Foreign Secretary has today made a statement to Parliament which explains the Government’s first use of the European Union Act 2011. This use of the Act is required by the proposed treaty change to enable Eurozone countries to set up the European Stability Mechanism, which aims to secure economic stability in the Eurozone countries […]
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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 […]
12th October 2011
Following the verdict in the Tymoshenko trial, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said: “The conviction of the Ukrainian opposition politician, Yuliya Tymoshenko, by a court in Kyiv is deeply concerning. Independent legal experts including the Danish Helsinki Committee have concluded that Ms Tymoshenko’s trial was subject to numerous and serious violations of fundamental legal principles, […]
10th October 2011
Today is the 9th World Day against the Death Penalty. It is the longstanding policy of the UK to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. However the death penalty is not prohibited by international law and 58 countries in the world retain it – that is 58 too many. […]
10th October 2011
Most Indians know that 2 October marks the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. That fact is less well known among UK staff in the Deputy High Commission, but they were aware enough when they joined about 700 others in a 10K walk or run at 7am to mark the date, and raise money […]
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5th October 2011
A long time ago in a previous job I used to lecture students and bureaucrats on the EU budgetary process. I used to hand out a mind-bogglingly complicated diagram, filled with jargon, arrows and boxes, which seemed to have been designed to be as confusing as possible. “For a start,” I would say, “ignore that […]