The UK’s trade commissioner simply must have a suitable home in which to entertain the rich and powerfulDiplomacy is about communication. Diplomats, particularly senior ones, often have to deal with the rich and powerful. They cannot of course match the lifestyle of kings, presidents, feudal lords, business tycoons, press barons and so on. But all governments, except the most impoverished (and some of them as well), find it wise to have them deal with such people on something like equal terms. That requires a base with a bit of style, which can be expensive.A “$16 million penthouse fit for a UK civil servant” is never going to be popular. But the role of such homes, provided at the taxpayers’ expense, is perhaps misunderstood. As well as allowing diplomats to do their jobs they also have to provide a decent, normal, family home. That may not always be achieved (I’m thinking of my own time in South Arabia, now Yemen), but it is vital. The Ferrero Rocher image of diplomacy is by no means the whole story, but if Mr Big keeps inviting you to his mansion and all you can do in return is take him out to a restaurant he will soon mark you down as a cheapskate, and that is not a good beginning. Diplomats are not unique in this; you don’t see many big business representatives living in shoeboxes. Continue reading…
Via: Denying our man in New York a £16m penthouse? That would be churlish | Oliver Miles

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