Andy Pryce

Accountability

The UK Government is drawn from and accountable to Parliament. Weekly Prime Minister's Questions are the clearest example of accountability where the prime minister is asked to respond to tough questions from his fellow Members of Parliament. Each of the major government departments also has its own version of questions such as Foreign Office questions.

I am currently reading Guardian commentary of David Miliband's joint appearance with John Hutton in front of a joint session of the House of Commons Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees.

Posted at 11:41 28 October 2008 by Andy Pryce  |  Comments[0]

London's diversity and public diplomacy

I am visiting London this week for some developmental training. I have attended both the Foreign Office's Deputy Heads of Mission course, ran by Ashridge, and the Crisis Leadership Course ran by our impressive consular crisis team. Any readers interested in a career in the Foreign Office should know that we run a first class set of developmental programmes and courses.

London's cosmopolitan nature is striking whenever I return. Only New York comes close to London in its claim to be the world's city. A 2006 survey found that 18% of Londoners use a language other than English in their home. This suggests to me that many Londoners maintain close ties to their home countries. As a public diplomacy practitioner, I wonder if this represents a communication opportunity. Are the ties that Londoners, or New Yorkers for that matter, have with other countries the type that allow influence at home? I understand that the Smith-Mundt Act prevents the US from undertaking this type of activity at domestically. But do readers see a benefit in engaging local communities with close ties to other countries?

By the way, I would not agree with the definition of public diplomacy given in the Wikipedia entry on Smith-Mundt.

Posted at 10:28 27 October 2008 by Andy Pryce  |  Comments[1]