#Adiosistanbul 8: big issues
The best thing about working in Istanbul isn’t the history, the architecture or the teeming energy of the city, magnificent though they may be. No. For a diplomat, the best thing about working here is...
View ArticleSalzburg, Vienna, Austria: language, migration and nuclear testing
What does a diplomat do? On Monday 29 August I started work in Vienna as “Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organisations in Vienna”. Recent weeks...
View ArticleA Tyrolean Squirrel’s Tail
When I arrived at the British Embassy in Vienna on 29 August 2016 one of my first meetings was with my excellent Press and Public Affairs (PPA) team. Part of the work of diplomats is to explain to...
View ArticleGive peace a chance
I’m sitting around a table with numerous Ambassadors discussing nuclear security. But we’re not at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We’re at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and...
View ArticleWhat really happens at the IAEA General Conference: Kraftwerk explain
So what really happens at a General Conference of the IAEA – the International Atomic Energy Agency? Delegates from 168 countries converge on the HQ of the IAEA in Vienna. They hold many meetings; and,...
View ArticleEdmund de Waal: During the Night
A man awakes from a nightmare in the depths of the night. He writes down his fears and illustrates them with a painting. 500 years later, another artist is inspired by the painting to gather together a...
View ArticleWhy I wear a poppy
Several Austrian friends have asked me recently why I am wearing a small, red flower – a poppy – on my jacket lapel. It’s because the United Kingdom together with other Commonwealth nations will...
View ArticleHow to ban nuclear tests
Just over 55 years ago, on 30 October 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed was set off over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Sea. The Soviet Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons,...
View ArticleAustrian and British power-houses
Vienna is not Austria – any more than London is the United Kingdom. So I was delighted recently to visit Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) to find out what makes Austria’s largest and second most...
View ArticleBeauty and Remembrance in Carinthia
The grass is perfect. Rows of tombstones stand in rows. Two Austrian musicians play “The Last Post”. I was honoured recently to attend Remembrance Day commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves...
View ArticleWhat connects St Andrew’s Day and a cricket-ball death?
30 November is St Andrew’s Day, named after the Patron Saint of Scotland. St Andrew offers continuity across cultures: he was crucified at Patras, in modern-day Greece, and his body was taken to...
View Article#GlobalBritain: some remarkable statistics
As an Ambassador constantly meeting people of all nationalities interested in the impact of the 23 June vote by the UK to leave the European Union, I am an avid follower of statistics. So for ease of...
View ArticleGive peace a chance
I’m sitting around a table with numerous Ambassadors discussing nuclear security. But we’re not at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We’re at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and...
View ArticleWhat really happens at the IAEA General Conference: Kraftwerk explain
So what really happens at a General Conference of the IAEA – the International Atomic Energy Agency? Delegates from 168 countries converge on the HQ of the IAEA in Vienna. They hold many meetings; and,...
View ArticleEdmund de Waal: During the Night
A man awakes from a nightmare in the depths of the night. He writes down his fears and illustrates them with a painting. 500 years later, another artist is inspired by the painting to gather together a...
View ArticleWhy I wear a poppy
Several Austrian friends have asked me recently why I am wearing a small, red flower – a poppy – on my jacket lapel. It’s because the United Kingdom together with other Commonwealth nations will...
View ArticleHow to ban nuclear tests
Just over 55 years ago, on 30 October 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed was set off over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Sea. The Soviet Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons,...
View ArticleAustrian and British power-houses
Vienna is not Austria – any more than London is the United Kingdom. So I was delighted recently to visit Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) to find out what makes Austria’s largest and second most...
View ArticleBeauty and Remembrance in Carinthia
The grass is perfect. Rows of tombstones stand in rows. Two Austrian musicians play “The Last Post”. I was honoured recently to attend Remembrance Day commemorations at the Commonwealth War Graves...
View ArticleWhat connects St Andrew’s Day and a cricket-ball death?
30 November is St Andrew’s Day, named after the Patron Saint of Scotland. St Andrew offers continuity across cultures: he was crucified at Patras, in modern-day Greece, and his body was taken to...
View Article