A couple more SpAd movements for Guido to tell you about following last week’s changes. Guido can reveal that the former Director of Communications at the Conservative party Caroline Preston has joined as a ‘temporary’ SpAd to Lord Cameron until the Foreign Office find a more permanent media SpAd. She knows m’Lord well, having been his head of Broadcasting in his second term in office. She’s known as a robust force in SW1…
Long-term Cameroon Laurence Mann has followed David to the Foreign Office. Mann has been advising Cameron since he was Prime Minister in 2010, and then followed him to be his office’s Chief of Staff for the last seven years. Cameron has also brought in a fellow Lords member, Baroness Liz Sugg, to bring in Foreign Office experience – her last stint at the FCDO ended in 2020, when she resigned after Sunak cut the foreign aid budget. Good luck…
Let Guido know any more moves…
Following Putin’s unhinged press conference formally annexing Ukrainian territories in the south east – and then holding hands with his cronies like some sort of horror ritual – the Foreign Office has announced even tighter sanctions on the Russian state. These include an export ban on nearly 700 industrial and tech goods, and a ban on Russian access to various western services such as IT consultancy, and engineering services. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also released a fierce statement:
“The UK utterly condemns Putin’s announcement of the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. We will never recognise the results of these sham referendums or any annexation of Ukrainian territory. The Russian regime must be held to account for this abhorrent violation of international law. That’s why we are working with our international partners to ramp up the economic pressure through new targeted services bans. What happens in Ukraine matters to us all, and the UK will do everything possible to assist their fight for freedom.”
Meanwhile Zelenskyy has announced Ukraine is applying for full NATO membership…
Guido has been spending his summer (so you don’t have to) reading though the diversity statistics of government departments. Despite claiming that it “is committed to putting diversity and inclusion at its heart, and is working towards its aspiration to be the most inclusive government department“, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office has almost totally failed to meet its own diversity targets for the last ten years. This is despite paying up to £63,465 per annum to woke diversity bureaucrats who want to deploy their “diversity expertise onto the global stage”
This means there is a great opportunity for a one-legged, black, lesbian at the Foreign Office. They will be hired immediately and tick three boxes in a stroke…
On Tuesday the PM paid a visit to Lancaster House for the FCDO Heads of Mission conference, alongside Ben Wallace and Liz Truss. Plenty of diplomats took to Twitter to show off the very serious topics that had been under discussion: “changing global context”, “how to better protect and promote UK interests”, “international development strategy” all among them. Word reaches Guido it wasn’t a wholly serious affair, however…
Taking to the stage for a sit-down interview in front of the best and brightest of Britain’s diplomatic core, Boris apparently had the crowd in stitches thanking them for their hard and vital diplomatic work… in securing Britain’s weekend Eurovision result, adding he could barely believe it when France gave us “douze points!”. Guido also hears that while DCMS’s Eurovision priority is helping Ukraine in any way they can to host next year’s contest, an offer to host it in the UK if they can’t has been made…
Truss’s showdown with the Russian ambassador went as well as expected. According to Foreign Office sources, the ambassador arrived after being summoned by the Foreign Secretary this morning “was spouting the usual propaganda”, and shown the door after just ten minutes. The Guardian claims “Liz ended the meeting early and kicked him out. She said he should be ashamed of himself”. “Liz was having none of it. Delivered her message and showed him the door.”
Two weeks after Cabinet Office civil servants learned about the healing properties of crystals, FCDO mandarins were given an even more exciting opportunity to waste time at work. An internal memo sent to Guido shows staff were offered a series of lectures and seminars on “Trans and Intersex Inclusion“, the role of faith in policymaking, and “initiatives for the LGBT+ business community“. Most of which were held during the working day…
Presumably staff no longer have any loose ends to tie up in Afghanistan, meaning they had nothing better to do at 1pm on a Tuesday than ask questions like “has science killed God?“. The memo also claims that the FCDO is still “reviewing of its membership” of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme – a review which should be unnecessary given Liz Truss has said she thinks all government departments should withdraw from it…
