8th September 2016 Beirut, Lebanon
It is now a year since I took up my appointment as UK Ambassador (designate) to Lebanon. It’s time to admit that, for all the wonderful experiences of my first year in this beautiful and welcoming country, there has been one big disappointment: Lebanon’s failure to elect a new President. And this is fundamental, because […]
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6th September 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
I spent this morning in conversation with Macedonia’s Justice Minister Valdet Xhaferi and the Centre for Legal Research and Analysis (CLRA), a Skopje-based civil society organisation. The topic was how we can strengthen the judicial system in Macedonia. And our conversation formed part of the launch of a programme of activities led by the CLRA […]
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1st September 2016 Mogadishu, Somalia
Lots of people I meet are curious about life in the Embassy. It’s a bit of a mystery to those who haven’t experienced it. We are a couple of dozen people ‘packed’ into a rectangle the size of a football field where we work, eat, exercise and sleep. There isn’t a lot of room, and […]
23rd August 2016 Mogadishu, Somalia
Over the next few months, I’ll be using this blog to share with you a little of my life and work here in Mogadishu. This week I’ve been struck by the variety of my work. It won’t be a surprise to hear that we’ve been working hard on security and governance issues. They are staples […]
17th August 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
For me, most of August and September will be one massive nostalgia trip. Seven years ago I packed my bags and left the Foreign Office to join the team organising London 2012. I spent three years there on secondment as Head of International Relations. And then from July to September we put on the best […]
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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21st June 2016 Islamabad, Pakistan
If you are living in the Northern hemisphere, and observing traditional fasting, then this year’s Ramazan is particularly difficult. The difference between the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar means that every year it shifts nine or ten days, and for those fasting, this year it falls slap bang in the middle of the longest […]
14th June 2016 Skopje, North Macedonia
If you have ever had to ring fire/police/ambulance, you’ll perhaps agree that you have never been more dependent on someone else’s planning and ability to deliver a timely, effective and coordinated response. How do they do it? I found some of the answers recently when I met a group of visitors from the UK Fire […]
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27th May 2016 Hanoi, Vietnam
Last week I was fortunate enough to enjoy an amazing adventure, joining a group of fellow ambassadors on a five-day expedition to the world’s largest cave, Son Doong in Quang Binh province’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park. (Although the trip was organised by the Vietnamese government, let me assure readers that I took the time […]
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26th May 2016 Calgary, Canada
I’ve always wanted to walk the red carpet at a film premiere, and within days of arriving in Calgary I had my chance.
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