In response to the Report published today by the The House of Lords Committee on Soft Power and the UK’s Influence, chaired by Lord Howell of Guildford, the British Council’s Director of Strategy, John Worne, said:
“We welcome this major report into UK soft power, which is of ever-growing importance to the UK’s global standing and our prosperity. Although recent events in the world might suggest otherwise, the power of attraction is the power we need more of in the ‘connected’ 21st Century. This report makes clear that the UK has deeply attractive soft power assets - not least those the British Council shares with the world: the English language, our education system, UK arts and our open vibrant culture. We are pleased and proud to see the value of sharing those assets so thoroughly recognised.”
1. Embargoed copies of the report are available from the House of Lords Press Office on 020 7219 8550 or lordspressoffice@parliament.uk.
2. The report will be available after publication on the Committees website here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/soft-power-and-the-uks-influence/
3. A timeline of the Committee’s evidence sessions during the inquiry is available online here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/soft-power-and-the-uks-influence/timeline/
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.
We work in more than 100 countries and our 7,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publically-funded grant provides less than 25 per cent of our turnover which last year was £781 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally.
For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil and http://blog.britishcouncil.org/.