Derek Tonkin is a distinguished former Ambassador (of an older generation than me) who follows closely the situation in Burma. He was brought up in a Foreign Office which prided itself on impeccable standards and good manners. Hence his sensible and courteous letter to David Miliband in March about Burma, […]
Still, the actual training in Den Haag on Writing with Impact went well, with lots of praise from the participants for my dynamic, eye-opening presentation on good diplomatic writing technique: Witty, clear, practical Lively, entertaining, convincing Funny, memorable, practical Great. I particularly liked the humorous presenting. A lot of information, […]
Here: Further to yesterday’s exposure of the cosy relationship the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Defence Gerald Howarth has with the arms lobbying industry, it seems things get even murkier. Howarth gave Michael Wood of lobbyists Whitehall Advisers (whose clients included BAE Systems and Airbus) free reign of the Parliamentary estate […]
Here is my long interview (in English) with George Matlock over at Radio Orla, a successful London-based radio station with a strong Polish angle. I normally can’t bear to watch or listen to myself after doing such media slots. But I started to listen to this one – I found it […]
Over at Business and Politics: Driving back home yesterday I almost crashed the car, so overwhelmed I was by a blast of noxious fumes verily of Icelandic proportions erupting from the radio. A senior TUC person was intoning that it would be wrong for the new government to make deep […]
Samp expected to sell for £5m This is the world’s most expensive stamp with a price tag of up to £5 million. As of 08.22 this morning.
Today I made my debut on the Agenda programme recorded for Press TV, an international media outlet paid for by Iran Broadcasting. The subject was British Foreign Policy after the UK elections. The programme should go out this weekend, or maybe the weekend after. Islamic journalist Yvonne Ridley was the host. [Update: […]
Remember Geoff Jones? He dropped by today as part of his latest long walk, this time along the Thames Path. Always a pleasure to meet a cheerful fellow blogger in meatspace. Geoff urged on me the merits of Twittering. I can move on from you mere Readers, to accumulate massed Followers! […]
The BBC asks a good question. Why has Eton produced so many MPs and PMs? With its Victorian-era uniform, and rules dating back through the centuries, Eton is often perceived as a rigid, conformist institution. But according to Nick Fraser, author of the book The Importance of Being Eton, the […]
If anyone needs something different from life, and/or wants to hear me talk at some length about my time in Poland and other issues, here are details of my long interview last week with London’s excellent English/Polish radio station Radio Orla.fm. Broadcast tomorrow (Sunday) and again on Monday, and available thereafter […]
