Ambassadors are called on to make many speeches. I recently calculated that in the course of the previous month I had made some 50 – ranging from brief remarks in English to about 30 minutes in Hungarian; and at formal, informal and largely fun events. The subject matter covered a wide field too – from Robert Burns to transparency; and from energy security to diplomacy as a discipline. My key rule for accepting invitations to speak is that they should offer me an opportunity to contribute something useful about British Government (and especially foreign policy) priorities.
I’ve just given three speeches on the trot today. I started as an opening speaker at the Hungarian launch of the 3rd Migrant Integration Policy Index, which is co-authored by the British Council; was opening speaker at a Regional Conference of the International Association of Women Judges; and ended the day introducing the Cambridge University Jazz Club (CUJO) to an audience at the British Embassy(one of the fun events mentioned above).
In all cases a common theme was diversity and equal opportunity – for legal migrants, for those seeking access to justice and in the use of music to fight discrimination and help socially disadvantaged children. (Donations were invited for a Music School in a poor region of Hungary.)
CUJO were, incidentally, fantastic and the enthusiastic audience felt inspired – in the words of James Brown – to “get up offa that thing, and shake ’til you feel better”. They gave several other well-received performances in Budapest.