---

UK Worldwide Interests

My Lords, I have been in this House a relatively short time but during that time have learnt that sooner or later the opportunity to express a cherished view will arise. Just such an opportunity has arisen today and I thank the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe of Aberavon, for providing the occasion. I have spent quite a lot of my working life in underdeveloped countries where resources are scarce if not absent; and every time I visit those countries I am both taken aback and humbled by the esteem in which the UK is held. It is a rather curious phenomenon. Other countries may give more money, more technical assistance, more commercial opportunities and, possibly, more encouragement to young people to avail themselves of educational opportunities. But still the UK counts—and counts for quite a lot. What, I ask myself, are we doing to deserve this esteem, or perhaps what are we doing to preserve it? What we are doing is the British Council. For more than seven decades governments have continued to fund the British Council to seek and create enduring cultural relations—and long may that funding continue and increase. I declare an interest as a parliamentary ambassador for the British Council. The British Council is a good thing. It induces a warm feeling. It undoubtedly has the good housekeeping seal of approval. But how many really know what it does, the range and diversity of its programmes and its impact? Let us take Afghanistan as an example—a country devastated by wars, civil unrest, religious fanaticism and extreme poverty. The whole humanitarian world is now there, largely in Kabul, albeit in an unco-ordinated and sometimes inappropriate series of projects. But what do people, not governments, want? They want their children to be educated so that they can become part of the international community. They want to participate tangibly in building a new country and they want to forge friendships with the British and with their institutions. The council is working on several projects—for example, training and networking sessions for potential women parliamentarians and civil service reform—all of which will contribute to the development of a civil society culture in Afghanistan. In turn, that will provide the bedrock for democratic development. In Iraq, the British Council is creating a few oases of cultural freedom in the midst of chaos. The aim was to end that country’s educational isolation especially at the higher and technical levels. Training and networking events have been held, leadership courses run and resource centres set up. The focus on capacity building is again the essential basis for the growth of democratic institutions; and there is now a partnership arrangement involving 14 colleges and institutions in Iraq linked with eight colleges of higher education in the UK. The diversity of programmes is remarkable. I first worked with the British Council on an earthquake recovery programme in Turkey in the 1970s and from 2000 until 2003 with an access to information programme which began in Peru, has now extended to several other countries in South America and has resulted in binding legal agreements and practical local initiatives to ensure that people participate in decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods. A recent US study suggests strongly that non-violent civic forces are a major factor in positive political change, but change initiated by the élite—a top down democratic change—has little positive effect on democratisation. It is the British Council working with people at the local level and being the interface between what people want in cultural relationships, educational development and the government of that country which is so extraordinarily valuable. In the 109 countries in which the British Council works it contributes daily to the UK’s international standing and reputation and to the development of civil society. It is hugely experienced in what it does; and its work is a powerful and synergistic combination of development, democracy and debate. We would have to invent it if it did not exist. The British Council, together with one or two other international outreach enterprises such as the BBC World Service, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and a few others, go some way to mitigate the loss of a comprehensive British diplomatic presence around the world.