Foreign Affairs

Chatham House urges protection of FCO – while officials reportedly say they are "confident" of a good outcome at the Spending Review

Senior Tory backbencher joins former Treasury solicitor Sir Paul Jenkins in questioning removal of reference to international law

Cabinet Office says amended ministerial code continues to account for international conduct – but Sir Paul Jenkins warns of "contempt for the rule of international law"

Foreign Affairs Committee says FCO failing to prioritise human rights as resources are squeezed

Chancellor chairs first meeting of the public expenditure committee (PEX) — with DWP and DfID spending said to be under scrutiny

Investigatory Powers Tribunal says Wilson Doctrine has 'no legal effect'

Justice secretary Michael Gove tells MPs that Just Solutions International – the commercial arm of the National Offender Management Service – will abandon deal to advise Saudi Arabia on running of prisons

Beyond the comfort zone: Andrew Rogoyski, head of cyber security services at global IT supplier CGI, tells Civil Service World about an eye-opening secondment working on cyber security in the Cabinet Office

Defence secretary tells RUSI think tank that the latest cross-government defence strategy will be "positive, assertive and quite properly strategic"

MI5 director general Andrew Parker gives first live interview to "increase understanding" of intelligence agency's work – and suggests social media firms have an "ethical responsibility" to report terror concerns

Director general for civil service reform to take up post as Home Office’s second permanent secretary, with responsibility for immigration and free movement

Simon McDonald tells MPs it would be "illogical to focus fire on the FCO" in November's Spending Review

The official view: Clare Short spent six years as Tony Blair's international development secretary. Here she tells us about motivating officials, how her private secretary snuck her into a global trade conference, and why the civil service must pay "fair wages" to its staff

Royal United Services Institute says protection of Ministry of Defence budget alone may not be enough to safeguard against wider threats

More than 30 Tories side against government to defeat change to rules on use of official resources in run-up to the European Union vote

Catherine Arnold, Britain's ambassador in Mongolia, on promoting 'Brand GB' in east-central Asia – and why challenging perceptions is so important

As co-founders of the Defence Cyber Protection Partnership, the Ministry of Defence is at the forefront of efforts to tackle the rising threat of cyber attack. Sarah Aston talks to the MoD’s cyber industry deputy head Daniel Selman

Colin Marrs speaks to Tom Woodroffe – former adviser to William Hague – about the Foreign Office’s mission to put tackling sexual violence in conflict at the top of the international agenda

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