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Welcome to the new Consul General
 The British Charitable Society is excited by the announcement by the Foreign and Colonial Office (FCO) that Dr. Phil Budden will be assuming the role of HM Consul General to New England from August 2007. Dr Budden has served at the British Embassy in Washington as the First Secretary for Regulatory Affairs as well as leading the Science and Technology team headquartered out of Washington DC.
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.
New Year Honours List
The 2009 New Year Honours List was published today (December 26), recognising outstanding achievement and service to the UK, in areas including community voluntary and local services, education, health, industry and the economy, science and technology, arts, media, and sport.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for awarding honours to those in the Diplomatic Service and Overseas List. This list recognises service given overseas, or service in the UK with a substantial international component. It includes freelance photo-journalist Harry Benson and Professor Linda Colley of Princeton University who are honoured with CBEs, while Professor David Warburton at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Dr Alexander William Lowndes de Waal are honoured with OBEs.
Mr Benson is recognised for services to photography and the community in the UK, while Professor Colley is recognised for services to historical studies. Professor David Warburton is recognised for services to UK/USA collaboration on healthcare research, and Dr de Waal is honoured for services to development and conflict resolution in Africa.
For Britain's Olympians there are one Knighthood, four CBEs, six OBEs, and 23 MBEs, including a knighthood for triple gold medallist Chris Hoy and an MBE for 14-year-old swimmer Eleanor Simmonds, the youngest person ever to receive an honour.
There are CBEs for Ben Ainslie, Britains most successful sailor ever, Bradley Wiggins, the first cyclist to successfully defend his pursuit title at the Olympics, David Brailsford, performance director of the phenomenally successful British cycling team and David Tanner, the performance director of GB Rowing.
Among the OBEs there are awards for Rebecca Adlington, who won two swimming golds at Beijing, and for sailors Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, who won gold at Beijing to add to their golds from Athens in 2004.
For Britain's Paralympians there are two CBEs, seven OBEs and 12 MBEs.
David Roberts, who has now won 16 Paralympic medals at three Games (including four gold medals at Beijing), has a CBE, as does horseman Lee Pearson, who won three golds at Beijing.
Among the OBEs are cyclist Darren Kenny, who won four gold medals at Beijing and swimmer Sascha Kindred, who won two golds and holds several world records.
In motor racing, Lewis Hamilton, who won the Formula One title in only his second season, is honoured with an MBE.
But the sports stars of Beijing make up only a tiny minority of the people on the list. The majority are local heroes from a range of fields, undertaking outstanding work that is having a real impact in the community. They include an MBE for senior nurse Carol Hoy the mother of cyclist Chris who is honoured for her exceptional service to healthcare.
Six individuals are honoured for showing real service to others in the midst of the London terrorist bombings in 2005. They include an MBE for Timothy Coulson, who jumped across the tracks and into a damaged Tube train to render first aid.
In the arts and media, there is a Knighthood for Terry Pratchett, one of the most popular authors writing today, in recognition of the huge impact his work has had across all ages and strata of society and across the world. There are CBEs for Robert Plant, one of the most significant rock singers of all time, Lady Marina Vaizey, a prominent figure in the arts world who has given distinguished service to almost every major UK arts organisation, and Courtney Pine, one of the UKs most influential and prolific jazz musicians.
Among the OBEs are actor Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, and Lakhbir Kaur (AKA Lucky Dhillon) multiple-award winning producer and broadcaster, who is honoured for services to Asian broadcasting.
Other notable awards include a KCB for Jonathan Phillips, Permanent Secretary at the Northern Ireland Office, whose diplomatic skills have enabled once intractable parties to come together and form a government working for the good of all of Northern Irelands citizens. There is also a KCB for Nick Macpherson, Permanent Secretary at the Treasury, to recognise his extraordinary work in response to the crisis in the financial services industry.
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:
- The purpose of ESTA is to “assist(s) in determining eligibility to travel to the United States under the VWP”
- It applies to visitors who are only transiting the US
- You cannot apply for an ESTA when you have already arrived in the US
- ESTA approval only allows board a carrier for travel to the US. You may still not be admitted when you arrive
- An ESTA is good for two years and allows for multiple visits
- So far this is no charge for this authorization
- If an application is denied, you can apply again after ten days. Emergency visas cannot be guaranteed
- There is a programme called TRIP (Traveller Redress Inquiry Program) for those who experience difficulties with ESTA: http://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/programs/gc_1169676919316.shtm
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
Book Review: The Iraq Commission Report
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 in Boston
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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