FOREIGN OFFICE DEFENDS ELITIST SYSTEM

By Anthea Hall and Sally Malcolm -Smith The Daily Telegraph

The old guard at the Foreign Office is mobilizing to fight government plans to abolish one of the principal tenets of Civil Service faith: fast stream entry into the Diplomatic Service.

In the wake of radical proposals that would end what critics condemn as a divisive entry system separating the 'officers' from 'other ranks', old hand rallied yesterday to defend the status quo.

Sir Michael Palliser, former head of the Diplomatic Service, said: "The general implication is that elitism is a good thing - as long as entry is open to everybody.'

The present system recruits high-flyers into an A-stream from which virtually all ambassadors are selected. Others, who join the E-stream, can aspire only to top administrative posts.

But while the old guard insists that the streaming has never been rigid and defends the principle of elitism, younger members see the present system as leading to frustration.

Because the FO is oversubscribed, many with first rate qualifications find themselves in the E-stream: 'At every level people are overqualified for the grades in which they join,' said an insider.

Viscount Glentworth, the Eton and Oxford educated heir to the Earl of Limerick, who failed to win a case against the FO for constructive dismissal, is a critic of the service. Earlier this year, Lord Glentworth accused the FO of sliding into a 'demoralizing decline' caused by its 'antiquated culture'.

He wrote in The Spectator: 'Career diplomats, most of whom join straight from university, are simply not competent to deal with many technical and economic issues arising today; and the notion that diplomacy, like accountancy or law, is a profession demanding special skills is a fiction'.

Last night the Foreign Office denied that any decision had been taken 'even in principle' to abolish the selection procedure.

Comprehension and discussion questions

1.Who does the present system of recruitment favour? Is it fair from your point

of view? Why/Why not?

2.Do many or few people want to take up foreign politics as their profession? For

what reasons do they want to do it?

3.What has made Viscount Glentworth a critic of the present system?

4.Do you agree or disagree with Glentworth's opinion concerning

professionalism in diplomacy?

5.Why does the British Foreign Office regard streaming as one of the primary

tenets of Civil Service faith? Why does the author prefer to use religious

terminology?

Exercise 30

Match the following words and word-combinations with their definitions and

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