Foreign Affairs

The UK’s deputy ambassador to Spain, Daniel Pruce, tells us what it’s like looking after Brits abroad – and why working across departments is so important

Simon McDonald, UK ambassador to Germany since 2010, to take up post as FCO's most senior official from September

Jess Bowie breaks bread with the outspoken chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

When Foreign Office letters on a plan to move the entire population of  Hong Kong to Northern Ireland turned up at the National Archives, many media outlets failed to spot the hoax. Former FCO official David Snoxell shares the story behind the correspondence, and warns against humour-free diplomacy

Philip Hammond tells MPs that while Treasury's 25% and 40% cuts call likely to be "aspirational", FCO must make "strategic" savings

Cabinet secretary says proposed purdah rule change is needed to eliminate legal uncertainty for ministers, and says civil service impartiality will not be undermined

Sir Simon Fraser expresses regret over lack of women on shortlist to succeed him as Foreign Office permanent secretary

Former health secretary says top civil servant's judgement "open to question" as MPs launch inquiry into "purdah" rule change ahead of EU vote

Chancellor uses first Conservative-only Budget to announce four more years of public sector pay restraint

Permanent secretary Sir Simon Fraser tells CSW the FCO must have “a comparable offer” with other departments

Conservative backbenchers put pressure on Downing Street to ensure machinery of government remains neutral in run-up to the European referendum

Security review calls for “comprehensive and comprehensible new law” to govern security agencies’ surveillance powers

Independent Commission for Aid Impact says DfID’s aid measurement focuses too much on short term financial results over long term ‘transformative change’

Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman sides with Tory backbenchers in row over waiving neutrality for machinery of government in the run-up to the EU vote

Philip Hammond says campaigning to stay in a reformed Europe is "clear" government position

Policy-makers around the world are using open data to bolster their development programmes, says Liz Carolan of the Open Data Institute

Foreign Office announces that its permanent secretary Simon Fraser is to leave Whitehall at the end of July

Lord Kerslake tells the Financial Times pressure on other budgets could be made "more acute" by protection of defence spending

As winners of the Analysis and Use of Evidence Award at the 2014 Civil Service Awards, DfID’s Humanitarian Innovation and Evidence Programme is at the forefront of Whitehall’s shift towards evidence-based policy. Sarah Aston meets team leader Dr Joanna Macrae

Report by MPs on the Defence Committee says UK must be prepared to deal with both 'unconventional and conventional threats'

Former environment secretary set to pressure government over Ministry of Defence budget, while defence secretary Michael Fallon says he will be 'fighting' against MoD cuts

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee warn commercial skills gap at Defence Equipment and Support will undermine MoD efforts to reduce costs if not addressed

With the defence budget becoming ever more contentious, the MoD’s permanent secretary Jon Thompson must continue to balance spending decisions with national security. It’s a tough job – but one he’s privileged to do, he tells Jess Bowie. Photos by Paul Heartfield

Former head of MI6 intelligence agency Sir Richard Dearlove says 'lack of trust' in politicians means new regulator needed