15th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Papal Visit to the United Kingdom last year, exactly one year ago this week, was an extraordinary moment in the relationship between my country and the Holy See. It was the first State Visit by a Pope, and in the Prime Minister’s words “an incredibly moving four days for our country”. It emphasised the […]
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9th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
This is my first blog entry as HM Ambassador to the Holy See – indeed, the first time a British Ambassador to the Holy See has had a blog. At a time when the Holy See is itself hosting meetings of bloggers from all over the world, and the Pope is tweeting, I think it […]
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2nd August 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The Embassy team has just hosted the visit to Bolivia of Minister of State, and Minister for Latin America, Jeremy Browne. Such visits are always valuable in our efforts to take forward the bilateral relationship, and highlight Britain’s role in Bolivia. It was the first visit to Bolivia of this level since Kim Howells visited […]
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1st June 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I have just spent three weeks in the United Kingdom, attending our annual conference of ambassadors and talking to a wide range of people about the direction of British foreign policy in this second decade of the twenty first century. What is clear is that there is plenty to do. No country, least of all […]
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14th March 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On 14 March, 54 countries across the world with a combined population of 2 billion people celebrate Commonwealth Day. But what is the Commonwealth? The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent states that grew out of the former countries of the British Empire. The most recent member to join was Rwanda in 2007, committing […]
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21st February 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
On 14 February, Valentine’s Day, there was the launch in London of the very first Fairmined and Fairtrade gold ingot from artisanal and small-scale mining. This was mined at the Cooperativa Minera Cotapata in the Nor Yungas area of La Paz. To receive this certification, the mine had to comply with a number of conditions. […]
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