Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Books

The role of the FCO in UK government

seventh report of session 2010-12, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

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The role of the FCO in UK government

seventh report of session 2010-12, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will not be back at the centre of Government and able to lead UK foreign policy, in line with the Foreign Secretary's ambitions, unless it can provide deep foreign policy expertise and judgement to underpin and implement Government decision-making. The FCO must have the resources and skills required to fulfil this role, especially specialist geographical expertise and knowledge of foreign languages. The FCO has a vital role to play for the Government, namely the timely provision of world-class foreign policy information, analysis, judgement and execution. Finances, people and buildings must be well-managed, but managerial requirements must not divert time and focus disproportionately from the FCO's core foreign policy functions. Given the resource constraints facing the FCO, however, there is doubt whether the department can achieve the Government's ambitions for enhanced commercial work while maintaining its core foreign policy functions at the required standard. The committee regards the FCO's network of overseas posts as integral to the department's ability to discharge its functions, and recommends that the FCO should seek to maintain a global UK presence. The committee also called "confusing" the fact that under the current Government the FCO has three sets of priorities: the Foreign Secretary's, the Cabinet Office's Business Plan for the department, and the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

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234

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The Stationery Office

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ISBN 10

0215559479

ISBN 13

9780215559470

The FCO's Human Rights Work 2011

Third Report of Session 2012-13, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

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The FCO's Human Rights Work 2011

Third Report of Session 2012-13, Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

It is inevitable that the UK will have strategic, commercial or security-related interests overseas which have the potential to conflict with its human rights work, says the Foreign Affairs Committee in a report published today. The Government should not be trying to assert that the two can co-exist freely: it should instead be explaining publicly its judgments on how to balance them in particular cases. The Committee's recommendation comes in the light of the FCO's decision not to designate Bahrain as a "country of concern" in its 2011 report on its human rights work, despite the repression of demonstrations in Bahrain in 2011. The Committee recommends that the criteria for designation should be based purely on assessments of human rights standards and should not be coloured by strategic or other considerations. The Committee also challenges the Government for being inconsistent in not taking a public stance on the Bahrain Grand Prix but boycotting group stage games at Euro 2012 in Ukraine. On rendition, the Committee finds that the protracted police investigations had an unacceptable impact on the work of the Gibson Inquiry and of relevant committees. The Government should explain why current investigations into claims of rendition made by two Libyans are expected to take so long. The Committee accepts that enough progress has been made in Burma to justify some relaxation of the EU's sanctions regime, but it says that Burma's human rights record remains seriously blemished. It recommends that the UK should call for better access to those still detained as political prisoners, and should press the Burmese authorities to allow independent observers to visit Rakhine state, to assess the extent to which the rights of the Rohingya minority are being respected.

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172

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The Stationery Office

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0215049470

ISBN 13

9780215049476

House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The UK's Relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - HC 88

Fifth Report of Session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

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House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The UK's Relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - HC 88

Fifth Report of Session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

By: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain remain key partners for the UK but relations are complicated by the differences between our societies and the pressing need for reform in the Gulf. Historic warm relations between the UK government and the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are not mirrored in public opinion in Saudi Arabia and the UK, and the UK's reputation in Bahrain has also suffered since 2011. The Government must make its public profile and reputation a more central part of its work in the Gulf, consider how it can best support much-needed economic and political reforms, and how it can explain its policies and point to specific achievements when speaking to the public at home and in the Gulf. In Saudi Arabia, the Government must convert its promising steps so far in providing assistance on legal and judicial reform into solid and reportable programmes. In Bahrain, it must work to secure access for NGOs and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and press more strongly for swifter implementation of reforms. Saudi Arabia's role as a key buyer for the UK defence industry is controversial but the report finds little to suggest that ending defence sales from the UK would have any positive effect. The aggressive way in which the Bahraini security forces handled events in 2011 has deeply damaged Bahrain's reputation. The recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) were sensible and the Bahraini government's failure fully to implement them is inexplicable.

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264

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The Stationery Office

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0215064585

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9780215064585

Book's by Great Britain. Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The role of the FCO in UK government

The role of the FCO in UK government

The FCO's Human Rights Work 2011

The FCO's Human Rights Work 2011

House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The UK's Relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - HC 88

House of Commons - Foreign Affairs Committee: The UK's Relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - HC 88

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