Foreign Office
Man of mystery and friend of the Cambridge spies
Details of Baron Talbot of Malahide’s attempts to clean up the mess left by his one-time mentor Guy Burgess are still conveniently exempted from the Freedom of Information Act
Fish out of water
As a one-nation Tory, Rory Stewart was not a good fit in the party’s new incarnation. We discover how his desire to make the world a better place was always going to work against him
A history lesson for those calling Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe 'ungrateful'
In the latest installment from the idiot age of Twitter, #ungratefulcow has been trending. The reason? Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had expressed, mildly and politely,…
How the Foreign Office secured Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release
There was a rare display of unity in the Commons chamber this afternoon when Liz Truss gave a statement on…
The Foreign Office isn’t fit for purpose
Now that the dust from the choppers has settled, we are left with two abiding images of the West’s adventure…
Afghanistan: five shocking claims made by the Foreign Office whistleblower
Dominic Raab faced the media round from hell this morning. The former Foreign Secretary faced a series of questions about…
Fears over Mandarin shortage in Whitehall
‘China Spy Blitz’ blared the Sun this morning: ‘UK spooks hiring Mandarin speakers in cyber war.’ Spy bosses, the paper…
The rise of the female ambassador
It is, of course, an excellent thing and a mark of social progress when an institutional bastion falls to woman-power.…
The Foreign Office has lost the plot in the Middle East
The Foreign Office has lost the plot
Why can’t Britain’s foreign aid be used to help Christians too?
How should the money we send abroad be spent?
Dominic Raab has to handle a stand-off with Iran and his own civil servants
It’s not an easy time to become Foreign Secretary, as Dominic Raab is about to find out. There is, of…
How does David Attenborough know what the monkeys are thinking?
The opening episode of BBC1’s Dynasties — the new Attenborough-fronted series from the Natural History Unit — introduced us to…
Home at last – a celebration of 200 years of the Travellers Club
The Travellers Club was founded in 1819 to provide congenial surroundings for those who had ‘travelled outside the British Islands…
Britain should spend more on diplomacy in Africa and less on aid
It is a tragedy that the party that has ruined Zimbabwe, led by a man who was one of the…
Freedom of information killed ambassadors’ valedictory dispatches. Could blogging bring them back?
‘All I ever tried to do was hold a mirror up and show you how beautiful you really are. Shine…
Portrait of the week
Home The Metropolitan Police encouraged people to celebrate VJ Day despite reports in the Mail on Sunday (picked up from…
Why does Britain's fight for religious freedom stop at Dover?
‘We don’t do God,’ was Alastair Campbell’s put-down when his charge, Tony Blair, was tempted to raise the issue of…
