People-to-people, not political

 

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE, NOT POLITICAL

1. We are governed by our Royal Charter in what we do and say.

2. Our staff and partners around the world have diverse opinions which we respect and encourage.

3. As a charity, we do not and cannot undertake any political activity in the UK or with respect to governments around the world.

 

We are governed by our Royal Charter in what we do and say.

•             The British Council was founded in 1934, to develop closer cultural relations between the United Kingdom and other countries.

•             Our Royal Charter lays out the sectors in which we are mandated to work to build knowledge and understanding between the UK and other countries.

 

Our staff and partners around the world have diverse opinions, which we respect and encourage

•             Our staff and partners reflect the diversity of responsible creative, academic and professional opinion and interests in the UK and other countries.

•             As an organisation that represents the values of the UK and best of UK arts and culture, we encourage freedom of speech and artistic expression. Our work depends on open and frank debate and the ability to share opinions and differences with our beneficiaries and partners.

•             People around the world are interested in what is happening in the UK and our staff’s opinions on these issues. We encourage our staff and the participants in our programmes to share their own personal views on topics and issues as part of sharing the broad spectrum of responsible UK and host-country opinion.

 

As a charity, we do not and cannot undertake any political activity with respect to governments around the world or in the UK

•             Around the world, we stand for engagement, not isolation. We work in developing countries, isolated places and less secure countries, as well as more open and prosperous societies.

•             Much of our work puts our staff in situations around the world where they experience at first hand very different ways of seeing culture, education, equality, identity, nationality, democracy and representation.

•             We are first and foremost a people-to-people organisation. As we are non-political, we do not comment as an organisation on the governments of the countries we work in.

•             Our charitable status and purpose mean we do not and cannot engage in any political comment, campaigning or lobbying.

 

FACTS

We are a Royal Charter charity registered in England, Wales and Scotland. All our work must deliver public benefit and contribute to one or more of our charitable aims:

− promote cultural relationships and the understanding of different cultures between people and peoples of the UK and other countries

− promote a wider knowledge of the UK

− develop a wider knowledge of the English language

− encourage cultural, scientific, technological and other educational co-operation between the UK and other countries

− otherwise promote the advancement of education.

We encourage our staff to express their personal views on what is happening in the UK and in the sectors we work with. This does not mean that these views represent the organisational stance of the British Council.

Our charitable purposes require us not to engage in party-political activity and to demonstrate operational independence from Westminster, devolved UK governments and political parties.

Our work requires that we have strong working relationships with the UK’s major political parties, all four UK governments, parliaments and assemblies.

In many countries, our work gives ordinary people a vital lifeline to the outside world, sometimes their only way to connect and contribute beyond their own borders.

In some countries where we operate, freedom of speech is curtailed. We are deeply uncomfortable when freedoms are compromised, but we do not support educational or cultural boycotts. We believe continuing engagement and connecting people provides a better way forward than isolation