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Miss Spencer
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11 JUL 1990
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Call on the Secretary of State by the Chairman and
Director-General of the British Council
Sir David Orr and Sir Richard Francis called on the Secretary of State this evening. Mr Sainsbury and you were present.
Sir David Orr gave an account of his recent visit to Poland and of all the British Council was doing there, as well as of its plans. I understand from you that this did not cover new ground, though the Secretary of State was impressed by the scope of demand for English language teaching and the British Council's plans to meet it.
Sir David Orr said that it was far from clear that the Poles could cope with their economic situation. The Poles were not patient people. There were now plenty of goods in the shops but no-one could afford to buy them. There were the first signs of unemployment. The Poles were anti-Soviet and suspicious of the Germans. They regarded us as their great friends. The same was true of the Hungarians. They looked to us as an alternative to German influence.
Sir Richard Francis mentioned problems for the British Council caused by the ceiling on the staff in Moscow. This meant that they had to operate a shadow unit, doing in London what could not be done in Moscow itself. Sir Richard Francis also referred to the British Council's operations in the GDR. There was a vast famine for information and British books. Since the opening of the wall, there had been a flood of visitors to the British Council library in West Berlin. The question was whether the Council should now open in East Berlin or have a large, centralised information office to cover the whole of the city.
Hong Kong. The Secretary of State said that he had been impressed by the British Council representative in Hong Kong and thought that the British Council's plans for the territory seemed very sensible. He referred in particular to the scope for ELT.
Sir Richard Francis invited the Secretary of State to visit the British Council offices. The Secretary of State said that he and Mrs Hurd looked forward to doing so.
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18 January 1990
CC:
PS/Mrs Chalker PS/Mr Sainsbury PS/PUS
Mr Lankester Mr Tait
Mr McLaren Mr Elam, CRD
Mr Hulse, EED Mr Paul, HKD
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Mr Hemans, Soviet Dept. Miss Phillips