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News Welcome to the new Consul General
Welcome to Boston and New England Dr. Budden! New Website Following a year of planning, testing and implementation, the British Charitable Society relaunched their web site to further promote the aims of the Society online. The new site includes expanded sections about the Society's mission and events and an new area for online donations and payments. It is hoped that in the future the website will be able to more closely interact in promoting and reporting about events as well as raising the profile of the British Charitable Society as a whole. The site has been designed by for the British Charitable Society as a pro-bono project by Alumedia who focus on working with clients with a US-UK market relationship. We welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions on the site, please email these to the webmaster. The Queen's Christmas Message 2008 For the first time this year the Queen's Christmas message was not only carried by the BBC but was also included on YouTube's Royal Channel. Click here for a transcript. ESTA Has Arrived On January the 12th of this year, 2009, the “Electronic System for Travel Authorization” (ESTA) came into effect for travellers to the US from 27 approved countries, including the U.K., who, until now, have been able to come swanning into the US for up to 90 days under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Up until that date your friends and relatives in the UK could visit you for 90 days without any documentation but a British passport. Well they will still not need a visa, but they will need an ESTA number which can only be obtained through this website: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. Further details may be obtained through “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” This programme is administered by the US Department of Homeland Security in cooperation with U. S. Customs and Border Protection and is said to be “an additional layer of advance scrutiny” of visitors. If Society members are expecting visitors to the US from the UK, it would probably be worthwhile for them and you to have a look at both of the above links. It is only via through the website that an application may be made, or information obtained. Those who are internet-challenged can get help from a friend or travel agent. Here are some basics:
Good luck, everybody!
Britons Abroad - A New Study Immigration has become a hot topic in the United Kingdom. Extensive data is available for people arriving to make new lives in the UK, but what about emigration? Remarkably very little is known about the British diaspora. A new study commissioned last year by the Foreign and Colonial Office (FCO) saw the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) issue a compelling report about the British abroad. BCS member Thomas Keown takes a closer look at a fascinating subject. From The Charter September 2007 On July the 14th this year, The Foreign Policy Centre, a London think tank released the comprehensive report of its Iraq Commission. In the September 2007 edition of The Charter, Editor Michael Dawson offers a candid review. Ex-Pat Tax Alert We have been alerted to a change in the UK tax code which, effective in April of, may 008, may reduce the time that a UK-born ex-pat may spend in the UK without being subject to taxes. The current time is 91 days a year, not counting the days of arrival and departure. Effective in April those days may be counted in the total. To see the full Telegraph article, go to theirwebsite: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml =/global/2007/11/01/non-resident-in-UK.xml The Prime Minister Addresses Congress, 4 March 2009
President Obama gave particular honour to Gordon Brown by inviting him to address a joint session of Congress. This is a rare occasion in the United States and the Prime Minister made the most of it, saying all the right things. Paricularly popular was the announement that Senator Kennedy had been award an honorary knighthood by the Queen. He spoke for nearly an hour, and he was interrupted many time by standing ovations. This was a fine performance, particularly taking ino account jet lag and the pressures of a very full schedule. Some who heard or read his text found it, well, a little fulsome, perhaps, almost embarassingly so. But that is the nature of these events, and certainly the Prime Mimister's palpable goodwill shone through it all like grace through a Sacrament. Click here to read the full text foryourself . The Prime Minister in Boston 18 April 2009 The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, was in the United States for a week in the middle of April, making the usual rounds of the White House, presidential candidates, etc. On his last day, April 18, he gave a speech at the Kennedy Library in South Boston, outlining his foreign policy. While some have criticised his speech on the grounds of its being mostly composed of abstract proposals, as opposed to concrete ones, he had clearly put a lot of thought into what he was going to say. We believe you might like to read this speech; its full text can be found by clicking here.
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