Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Summary
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office. The head of the FCO is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly abbreviated to "Foreign Secretary" (currently William Hague). This position is regarded as one of the three most prestigious appointments in the Cabinet, alongside those of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. Together with the Prime Minister, these comprise the Great Offices of State.The Acting Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service is Martin Donnelly, a senior civil servant. The FCO was formed in 1968, from the merger of the short-lived Commonwealth Office and the Foreign Office.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Twitter Mentions
Latest Foreign and Commonwealth Office News RSS Feed
-
Doorstepping challenge highlights the ethical dilemmas journalists face
Readers were asked how they would deal with a hypothetical situation where a reporter has a chance to break a story.
-
Foreign Secretary @williamjhague meets his Twitter followers
William Hague has been the most active foreign secretary we have had on Twitter and this week he marked his 100,000 follower milestone by meeting five of his followers for a discussion about foreign policy.
-
Former Reuters journalist Brian Crozier dies aged 94
Journalist and activist Brian Crozier, described as one of the “last of the Cold War warriors”, has died aged 94. An obituary in The Independent said Crozier died on Saturday after a long illness. According to his family, the former Reuters correspondent made it into the record books after interviewing the most prime ministers and heads [.
-
BBC World Service should not be threatened by having to make money | James Robinson
Asking journalists for money-making schemes was a bad idea. But the service could operate commercially with integrity.
-
Queen Elizabeth II’s reign of duty
I met Her Majesty the Queen once, at St. James’s Palace, at a diplomatic gathering that I was attending in my part-time role of foreign minister’s wife. At the equivalent American event — at, say, the party the president throws every year at the U. N. General Assembly in New York — the foreign diplomats stand in line, shake the president’s hand, have their picture taken and are then rapidly ushered away.
-
Rebekah Brooks says David Cameron sent her message of support indirectly
Rebekah Brooks has confirmed that David Cameron sent her an indirect message of support after she was forced to resign as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
-
Rebekah Brooks, Former Senior Murdoch Aide, Appears Before Leveson Inquiry
Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper subsidiary, testified on Friday before an inquiry into press ethics.
-
Channel 4 scoops three gongs at One World Media Awards
Channel 4's investigation, which prompted a call by the UK foreign office for an independent investigation, won the television and documentary awards.
-
BBC seeks technocrat with vision
The next BBC director general will have to see the corporation though its most demanding and life-threatening time since 1926.
-
Foreign Office 'in contact with family' of British journalist killed in Syria
It is believed that Walid Bledi died a week ago while filming a documentary about Syrians fleeing to Turkey.
TheMediaBriefing Social