I am Bruce Bucknell. I was a British diplomat from 1985 to 2022. I spent much of my career in London working in King Charles Street, the main building of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since the merger of the FCO with the Department of International Development in 2020. At the tail end of my career, I served in Belarus (2012-16), India (2016-19) and briefly in Sri Lanka (3 months in 2021).
I once described myself – partly in jest – as a “low-flying diplomat”. My career was not especially stellar: I did more of the grunt work of producing documents and texts that are our stock in trade and less direct negotiation with representatives of other countries. But I thoroughly enjoyed my job which gave me opportunities to visit places, experience events and meet people I wouldn’t otherwise have had.
The moniker is also the opposite of a cliché beloved of British tabloid newspapers: diplomats are “high-flying” when they get into the news. Diplomats have a privileged status – they have immunity in the foreign countries in which they are accredited to allow them to represent their country unhindered. But they are also civil servants, and live their lives like other citizens of their home country.
In Belarus and India, I used to write a blog – that is still available – in which I reflected on what I came across in my professional life, as well as explaining things British to readers in those countries. This blog will be the reverse – about what I observe now in my country and wherever my travels take me. I pondered various titles to the blog but came back to “low-flying diplomat”, even though I am no longer a serving diplomat and haven’t been in an aeroplane since I retired – a “no flying ex diplomat”.
Today’s digital media allow texts, images or footage (real or otherwise) to be flashed around the world instantly. Anyone can opine as if an expert to a vast digital audience. I hope whatever I write induces reflection on possibilities, rather than confirms certainty or prejudice.
My former FCDO colleagues will be pleased to note that I won’t be disclosing any official information or anything “… liable to affect the government’s relations with other countries“. As I was reminded when I retired earlier this year, I am still bound by the Official Secrets Act 1989.
Let me know how good or bad my content is – I will try to respond to all comments.
4 September 2022
Low-Flying diplomat 