The Foreign Office should be replaced with a new department, updating its world view after Brexit by taking down portraits of imperial administrators, according to a group of experts in diplomacy.
Britain’s divorce from the European Union marks an opportunity to look afresh at what the country needs from its foreign policy, as an “offshore, mid-sized power in a rapidly changing world”, former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill and other grandees argued in a new pamphlet.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) should be scrapped for a new “Department for International Affairs” or agency called “Global Affairs UK”, to “help embed a clear long-term mission in the mandates guiding UK international institutions”.
At least one percent of UK gross income should be spent on international engagement, to complement the Government’s existing commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence, the experts said.
The Diplomatic Service should be modernised by becoming more open to specialists from elsewhere in the Civil Service and outside Whitehall, the pamphlet published by UCL Policy Lab and Hertford College, Oxford said.
Co-author Moazzam Malik, a former Director General at the FCDO, said Britain should look to learn from comparable economies such as Canada, Japan, Norway and Switzerland.
Those are other “offshore nations, if you like, countries that are linked to big economies on their borders but also need to look beyond those big economies to their international relations around the world”, he said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Mr Malik added: “We're calling for a modernisation of the Foreign Office premises, because if you enter the Foreign Office building, it speaks about past rather than our future.
“There are still many colonial-era pictures on the walls. I came across an incident recently where a senior Irish diplomat was visiting the Foreign Office for a meeting about the UK’s food and nutrition summit (held in November).
“Towering over the meeting table was a portrait of (19th century) Lord Trevelyan, who was famous for wanting to limit the UK's financial exposure to the Irish potato famine. The significance of that was not lost on the Irish diplomat.”
The pamphlet urged the Government to “rely on actions rather than rhetoric” in its foreign policy.
“The UK has often sought to project an image of ‘greatness’ to the world that today seems anachronistic. We will be envied for what we are good at, not what we say that we are good at,” it said.
“This means the state working hand in hand with our universities, our creative sector, our sports bodies, news and civil society organisations, so they can serve as effective ambassadors for the UK and maximise the country’s considerable ‘soft power’.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said in response on Monday: “I don’t think he would agree with that assessment at all. The Foreign Office is doing vital work to protect and promote UK interests abroad and he fully supports the work of the Foreign Office and indeed the Foreign Secretary in achieving those objectives.”
Asked whether the Prime Minister thought the Foreign Office should remove colonial-era artwork, the spokesman said: “No, we’ve previously talked about being proud of the UK’s history and looking forward, the Foreign Office is at the forefront of efforts to promote UK interests at home and abroad.”
An FCDO spokesperson said in response: “We are maximising the benefits of merging diplomacy and development in the FCDO to better deal with global challenges, as seen in our responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and in the Middle East.
"We are committed to having an even greater impact and influence on the world stage - which is why we recently completed a review across the department to ensure we are effectively directing our funds, streamlining all our international policy work, and building our capability for the future.”
The pamphlet comes after the National Audit Office (NAO) last month warned that Britain’s international development power had diminished since the FCDO resulted from a 2020 merger from the old Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.
The loss of dedicated senior roles overseas as a result of the change in leadership structure had undermined credibility and accountability, the NAO said in a progress review of the merger, which was controversially forced through by Boris Johnson.
