The Guardian this morning has a piece on the chilly state of what it calls ‘Anglo-Russian’ relations. The ‘Anglo’ word rings strange in this context these days. It appears to make England the focus of such problems while having nothing to say about the surely similar and weighty responsibilities of Scotland, Wales and […]
The Russian government’s disagreement with London over the British Council and its status intensifies. Points worth bearing in mind include: most if not all governments including the Russians ‘sell’ (or at least levy an administrative charge for) certain things through their Embassies abroad as part of normal diplomatic business (see eg […]
Moscow, Sunday 3 October 1993 At an Embassy picnic in the Moscow suburbs that afternoon news started to come through that the extended sit-in at the Russian Parliament by President Yeltsin’s opponents had turned violent. We jumped in our cars and returned to our various flats in central Moscow. I went to […]
Lying is an interesting phenomenon in politics and diplomacy. Oscar Wilde had various thoughts on the subject of Lying from a high aesthetic point of view. I can not recall encountering an example of outright lying in my time in the civil service. British people including bureaucrats use all sorts of […]
I attended a Mediation in London yesterday as an observer, part of the final process of my qualifying as a professional Mediator. Most Mediations settle the dispute, often saving the parties vast sums of money. Plus unresolved Mediations at least clear the air and can enable the parties quietly […]
The Civil Service takes letters from members of the public seriously. Apart from anything else, they alas exist. Once they have been placed on someone’s desk they have to go somewhere, and unless they are simply incomprehensible utter rubbish (a non-trivial proportion by the way, usually involving HM The Queen, MI6 […]
My own near-death experience with Leaks came back in the mid-1980s when I was in the FCO Planning Staff as the official speech-writer for Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe. Part of the job involved checking draft speeches prepared by other FCO Departments, usually with a view to effecting radical improvements […]
Lots in the media (see eg here) about the Prosecution decision not to proceed with charges against FCO official Derek Pasquill on leak charges. Disclaimer: I do not know Derek Pasquill. I do not not know what prompted his leaking of the papers concerned, nor how he did it and what he […]
If diplomacy is all about Communication, a lot depends on the interpreters. Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski visited the United Kingdom in late 2006. After a good private discussion at No 10 the President and PM Tony Blair faced the usual joint media event. A Polish journalist asked the President if more should be done […]
Back in April 1986 I was the FCO Resident Clerk on duty on the night US warplanes attacked a number of targets in Libya. The then British Government led by Margaret Thatcher of course knew this was coming, having given permission for some of the US aircraft to deploy from […]
