26th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
While most of America may have spent last week focussed on brackets and upsets, we had our own bit of March Madness here in DC: an official visit from Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha, as well as the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary. And what a visit it was. I was on the […]
20th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
On March 21st at 12:30 London time (8:30 on the East Coast), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will unveil his 2012 Budget to the British Parliament. The word ‘Budget’ comes from the French term ‘bougette’, meaning little bag. But rather than thinking about ‘little bags’, whenever I mention the Budget to American friends, they […]
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20th March 2012
Do you know your C++ from your Sybase? Do you know the difference between SQL and ORM? If you do, high-paying jobs could be yours – in Kyiv, Lviv or Kharkiv. Back in summer 2010 I blogged about how UK-based Barclays Capital, working with EPAM Systems, had chosen Kyiv for its third global technology centre, […]
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19th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
It was pretty much impossible to look at a newspaper, news programme, tweet or blog last week without being met by numerous photographs of David Cameron and Barack Obama sharing a joke, or their quotes about the essential relationship shared by the US and UK. They even wrote a piece together for the Washington Post. […]
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16th March 2012 Beirut, Lebanon
Yesterday, I joined an inspirational conference on reconciliation and coexistence, led by interfaith NGO Adyan. It reminded me of the great Margaret Mead line – ‘Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Beirut is of course the […]
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12th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
Today’s fast moving, ever-changing digital landscape has altered many things about how we work, live and do business. But some constants remain – entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity are still king. This year’s South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival exemplified just that – and showed that Britain is certainly towards the front of the pack! From […]
8th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’d like to draw your attention to the latest blog by our Head of Mission in Helmand, Michael O’Neill. The post covers Helmand Province on today, International Women’s Day. Helmand Province offers a microcosm of the wide range of conditions facing women and girls in Afghanistan. In many rural areas it’s hard for girls to […]
8th March 2012 Warsaw, Poland
Great job guys! I’ve just got home, put my feet up and am tucking into a great salmon sandwich, a cup of Harrogate green tea and you know what, I’m going to try some of my best single malt this evening. It’s been a great day. Let me tell you why. My expert colleague in […]
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8th March 2012 Dublin, Ireland
Today is a very important day. It is my birthday. More seriously, it is International Women’s Day. The role of woman in European society has evolved a lot in recent years, mostly in a positive direction. However, there is a great deal still to do. Women are still under represented at the top levels in […]
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7th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
My mother’s mother was born early in the 20th century in a small Welsh mining village. She was the third of 11 children and she left school – illegally – at 12 to work in a factory. This was not uncommon – indeed only her very youngest sister finished school. Married at 17, to avoid […]
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