Bruce Bucknell
Former British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata
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2nd February 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
One of the great attractions of becoming a diplomat is the opportunity to live in different places abroad. Lots of people travel abroad but, unlike diplomats, they tend only to stay for a short period. I notice there is a lot of argument in cyberspace about the differences between “a tourist” and “a traveller”: I […]
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23rd January 2015
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last week, we formally opened the new Visa Application Centre in Minsk. This was a satisfying moment as we had been working on this for much of last year. The new centre in Minsk is part of a global programme to close visa sections in embassies, and transfer the application process to privately run application […]
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19th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
We are going home for Christmas. But we’re only back for less than three weeks, and we won’t be living in our house. So we won’t have the complete British Christmas that I described last year. But we’ll be spending time with family and friends, and re-visiting favourite places. I’m looking forward to it. As […]
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10th December 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
(on occasion of Human Rights Day, 10 December) There is a time in life when we start learning from people younger than ourselves. Perhaps that’s the best moment as a parent – when your children start telling you things you didn’t know. We joke in Britain that you know you are getting older, when policemen […]
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17th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Stereotypes about nations are dangerous things. I read recently that national stereotypes exist for a reason. Maybe, but they can breed prejudice – in the sense of “pre-judging” people or places based on a stereotype before you encounter them. What of stereotypes about Britain? I hope many of my previous blogs have challenged some of […]
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7th November 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I come from a politically engaged family. My parents were active in local politics and spent quite a lot of their spare time attending meetings or public events in support of their party. I don’t think I ever really discussed with them why they were so interested in politics. We talked more about what needed […]
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31st October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
One of the biggest changes in my working life has been in communication. When I started working as a diplomat, we read newspapers, and had a “cuttings service” of news articles that were circulated on paper. I read it days after it was first distributed. Today, I get my “newspaper” cuttings electronically, and they’re waiting […]
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24th October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I give many talks in English because there is a good demand for me to do so. Most of my audiences are younger people at universities, and one asked earlier this year how different young people in Belarus were to those in Britain. I had to think hard before I gave my answer. Much of […]
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3rd October 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Political life has been fascinating in the last few weeks in Britain. I was lucky enough to be in London in mid-September and watched, listened and read lots from the British media about the Scottish referendum. Like any good contest, the outcome was not certain. There was lively debate and on the day, a high […]
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19th September 2014
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I recently received an invitation to talk about dress. A business club wanted to hear my views about how to dress for business meetings. I’m always happy to speak in public, but I wasn’t sure that I was the best person to give advice on this subject. I probed for more detail. Apparently, some business […]
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