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Jeremy Hunt to cast net wider to recruit top diplomats
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<p>Foreign secretary wants some ambassador roles open to external candidates</p>
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<a rel="author" class="gmail-tone-colour" href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/patrickwintour"><span>Patrick Wintour</span></a></span> Diplomatic editor</p>
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Wed 31 Oct 2018 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">06.22 EDT</span>
First published on Wed 31 Oct 2018 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">02.00 EDT</span>
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<img class="gmail-maxed gmail-responsive-img" alt="Jeremy Hunt (left) with Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono, in September" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/6b603881393a45f95298bd13410808e070f59907/575_924_3997_2398/master/3997.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8d058b6ed09f69583a17cc9558a58596">
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Jeremy Hunt (left) with Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono, in September.
Photograph: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images
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<p>Some of Britain’s top diplomatic jobs are to be opened up to people
who are not civil servants as part of a push to recruit
“under-represented groups”, as the UK revamps and expands its overseas
operations, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/jeremy-hunt" class="gmail-u-underline">Jeremy Hunt</a> is to announce.</p>
<p>The initiative will include opening up some ambassador roles to
external candidates, with the foreign secretary due to tell an audience
at the Policy Exchange thinktank: “The strength of our network is its
professionalism, which has given us what I believe is the finest
diplomatic service in the world. But we must never close our eyes to the
approaches and skills of other industries.”</p>
<p>Hunt will also announce a drive to double the number of British
diplomats who can speak a foreign language from 500 to 1,000 as part of a
10-year plan to reinvigorate UK diplomacy after Brexit.</p>
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<p>In his speech on Wednesday, Hunt will say he wants to project
the UK as “the invisible chain that links the world’s democracies”.</p>
<p>He will say that in the face of a global threat to democracy, the UK must expand British diplomacy.</p>
<p>Asked whether the move to bring in people from outside the civil
service was a step towards a US-style system that allowed cronyism, Hunt
told the BBC: “There will be absolutely no conflict of interest allowed
and anyone applying for these jobs will apply through normal Foreign
Office processes so we can make sure that proper independence is
protected.”</p>
<p>He added: “There may be one or two posts where someone who is perhaps
chief executive of a FTSE company, who has got strong links with
another country, could do a brilliant job representing the UK, building
up our trade with another country. We want the Foreign Office to be open
to that kind of talent.”</p>
<div id="gmail-dfp-ad--inline1" class="gmail-js-ad-slot gmail-ad-slot gmail-ad-slot--inline gmail-ad-slot--inline1 gmail-ad-slot--rendered"><div class="gmail-ad-slot__label">Advertisement</div><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/politics/article/ng_1__container__" style="border:0pt none" class="gmail-ad-slot__content"><div class="gmail-unruly_in_article_placement" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;line-height:normal;text-align:left;letter-spacing:initial;min-width:initial;min-height:initial;box-sizing:initial;font-size:initial;display:block;overflow:hidden;max-height:1px;opacity:1"><div class="gmail-unruly_ia_furniture" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;line-height:normal;text-align:left;letter-spacing:initial;min-width:initial;min-height:initial;box-sizing:initial;font-size:initial;display:block;height:22px"><img class="gmail-unruly_ia_closebutton" style="margin: 2px 2px 1px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: normal; text-align: left; letter-spacing: initial; min-width: 0px; min-height: initial; box-sizing: initial; font-size: initial; height: 18px; width: 18px; float: right; opacity: 0.25; transition: all 0.25s cubic-bezier(0.445, 0.05, 0.55, 0.95) 0s; outline: transparent solid 1px; cursor: pointer;" src="https://video.unrulymedia.com/native/images/in-art-close-icon-128x128-16481b937f87b244a645cdbef0d930f8.png"><div class="gmail-unruly_ia_disclosure" style="margin:0px 18px;padding:2px 0px 0px;border:0px none;line-height:normal;text-align:left;letter-spacing:initial;min-width:initial;min-height:initial;box-sizing:initial;font-size:initial;display:block;opacity:0.5"><div class="gmail-unruly_ia_disclosure_text" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;line-height:21px;text-align:center;letter-spacing:initial;min-width:initial;min-height:initial;box-sizing:initial;font-size:10px;display:block;font-family:sans-serif">–– ADVERTISEMENT ––</div></div></div><div class="gmail-unruly_ia_bottombar" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px none;line-height:normal;text-align:left;letter-spacing:initial;min-width:initial;min-height:initial;box-sizing:initial;font-size:initial;display:block;height:20px"><img class="gmail-unruly_ia_volume" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px none; line-height: normal; text-align: left; letter-spacing: initial; min-width: initial; min-height: initial; box-sizing: initial; font-size: initial; z-index: 100; width: 20px; height: 20px; cursor: pointer; opacity: 0.25; float: right; transition: all 0.25s cubic-bezier(0.445, 0.05, 0.55, 0.95) 0s; background: black none repeat scroll 0% 0%; border-radius: 50%; display: inline-block;" src="https://video.unrulymedia.com/native/images/unmiss-sound-button-muted-e74d67a0c85c3548f07d7564782a269c.svg"></div></div></div></div><p>However,
the move was criticised by the FDA union, which represents senior civil
servants. Its general secretary, Dave Penman, said: “The role of a
diplomat in representing the UK’s interests abroad is much broader than
simply trade, which is why they go through years of training and develop
such a range of skills. </p>
<p>“That expertise already includes international trade. To solely focus
on this area risks undermining the UK’s interests and influence given
the complexities of international relations.” </p>
<p>Efforts by Hunt’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, to promote a post-Brexit “Global Britain” policy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/12/foreign-office-policy-of-global-britain-is-superficial-rebranding" class="gmail-u-underline">were widely derided</a>
as lacking substance. But Hunt, seeking to establish his authority in
the post, will say that “our democratic values are arguably under
greater threat than at any time since the fall of the Berlin Wall … we
can use our influence, reach and power to defend our values by becoming
an invisible chain that links the world’s democracies”.</p>
<p>He will propose increasing the number of languages taught at the
Foreign Office (FCO) from 50 to 70. The 20 additional languages will
include the central Asian tongues of Kazakh and Kyrgyz, Shona from
Zimbabwe and Gujarati from India.</p>
<p>Hunt himself speaks fluent Japanese, although no other FCO minister
is thought to be an expert in languages. The Europe minister, Alan
Duncan, recently admitted he had “a very rusty A-level French, and
needed an immersion course to restore it”.</p>
<p>The FCO acknowledges language skills have declined, partly due to the
closure of a language school. An investigation by the foreign affairs
select committee found the department had only 45 Russian speaker roles
across central and eastern Europe, but the FCO could not say how many of
these positions had been filled. About two-thirds of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/sergei-skripal-russia-expels-23-british-diplomats" class="gmail-u-underline">UK diplomats expelled by Russia</a> in the wake of the Sergei Skripal poisoning were Russian speakers.</p>
<p>The FCO also recognises it is suffering from a dearth of Arabic
speakers, with 30% of staff in roles requiring speaking ability reaching
the target skill level.</p>
<p>Hunt will also confirm plans announced by Johnson in March to increase the number of overseas posts by 12.</p>
<p>The foreign secretary is aiming to project the FCO as a defender of
democratic values, but without claiming to run an ethical foreign policy
of the kind championed by the former Labour foreign secretary Robin
Cook from 1997.</p>
<p>“Our network of friendships is unparalleled,” he will say. “But they
are underpinned by something more than shared history, shared language
or shared culture. They are underpinned by the values – democracy, the
rule of law, the separation of powers, respect for individual civil and
political rights, a belief in free trade – that bind us. When these
values are under threat, Britain’s role – indeed obligation – is to
defend them.”</p>
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<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>