Our Chair Lord Kinnock delivered a speech about our work in Russia at a fringe event organised by the BBC World Service and the British Council at this year’s Labour Party Conference in Manchester. Stephen Sackur, presenter of the BBC’s HardTalk, chaired the debate, and the speakers were Lord Kinnock; the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and Dr Bobo Lo, Director of the Russia and China programmes for the Centre of European Reform.

Mutual understanding and trust
Lord Kinnock emphasised that ‘mutual understanding and trust must be fundamental components of any stable and productive relationship’. Cultural relations – the contacts, exchanges and shared experiences between people – are therefore at the heart our work in Russia.

The speech, entitled Back to the Future? Russian Relations in the 21st Century, affirmed the purpose of this work, which is ‘entirely to advance Russian understanding of the UK, to do it through activities which are similar to those which we undertake in over 100 other countries in the World, and to enrich cultural and educational opportunities for Russian people, over a million of whom used the services of the British Council last year’, said Lord Kinnock.

Working together
Earlier in the year we reluctantly decided to close down our offices in Ekaterinburg and St Petersburg, as a result of intense pressure on our staff from the Russian authorities. All our work is now being carried out from our Moscow office: ‘From there we will continue to work with and for the wide spectrum of Russians in education, in business, in artistic activities who comprehend our purpose clearly, who enjoy their association with the British Council, and who share our commitment to ensure that our status in Russia is completely regularised and normality in international cultural relations is fully restored,’ he said.

Looking ahead to future activities in Russia, Lord Kinnock highlighted several forthcoming events, including the Turner in Russia exhibition that was brokered by the British Council between the Tate and the Pushkin Museum; the biggest ever Education UK exhibition in Russia, and the partnership between the British Council, the Goethe Institute and the Moscow Linguistic University to develop foreign language teaching in Russia and across Europe.

To read Lord Kinnock’s speech in full, please visit our press pages.