25th June 2014 Washington DC, USA
“What do British people hate?” A straightforward question – but context is everything. When posed by an earnest thirteen-year-old North Korean schoolboy, in a Q&A discussion with British diplomatic visitors, it took me by surprise. But then much of what my colleagues and I experienced during a week-long familiarisation visit to the Democratic People’s Republic […]
16th October 2013 Athens, Greece
When they appointed me ambassador, I knew almost nothing about the maritime world – whether naval or mercantile. Sure, I had grown up near one of the most important ports in England and had gone to school there. In the 19th century, the fleet of Hull was principally occupied with whaling. In the 20th century, […]
15th October 2012
No-one in India exemplifies ‘The Power of We’ more than Mahatma Gandhi, even over 60 years after his death. He sought to improve the conditions of the poorest and to lead one of the world’s first non-violent mass movements, first in South Africa and then in India. Hundreds of books have been written about his influence on […]
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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8th July 2011
A small group from the Deputy High Commission went after work one evening to a part of Mumbai we wouldn’t normally visit. Kamathipura has numerous small businesses, and like every part of the city is a great example of entrepreneurism. That evening we saw the dark side of business, calling on the founder of an […]
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23rd December 2010
<![CDATA[ The end of the year is always a time for reflection. What did we do over the last year? What could we have done better? What will we try to achieve in the year ahead? 2010 has been another busy year for Bolivian-British relations. We have had a number of visits in both directions, […]
10th December 2010
On Thursday 18 November forty people gathered pre-dawn at one of India’s most historic sites, the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, where Mahatma Gandhi lived for many years. The occasion was the beginning of an India-UK Friendship Walk, which my wife Jill has organised with massive support from members of the Association of British Scholars in […]
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