Simon Collis

Former UK Ambassador to #SaudiArabia, #Iraq, #Syria, #Qatar. Now a private citizen

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

Sir Alex Younger’s death is such a shock.

I first knew him and his family when we were all in Dubai many years ago. We worked together regularly for much of the rest of our respective careers, and stayed in touch after our retirements.

Alex was, of course, an outstanding intelligence officer and leader. He worked tirelessly to make our country and the wider world a less dangerous place.
He brought wisdom, integrity and clarity to every issue I saw him deal with.

He won trust, respect and warmth from world leaders as well as British Ministers, and later from the public.

He was a kind and decent man with a wickedly dry sense of humour.

Like so many who knew him, I will miss him terribly.

My thoughts go out to Sarah and the family at this time.

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

At last! Congratulations to all who worked so hard for so long on this agreement, and especially to those who finally got it over the line!

[UK in Saudi Arabia 🇬🇧🇸🇦 @UKinSaudiArabia]

A landmark moment for the UK and the GCC 🇬🇧 🤝 🇸🇦 🇶🇦 🇦🇪 🇴🇲 🇰🇼 🇧🇭

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

Historic! Congratulations to Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha! 21kph for over 42km is just astonishing

[The Athletic @TheAthletic]

Sabastian Sawe has broken the men's marathon world record in London.

The Kenyan is the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours in race conditions — his time was 1:59:30.

Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, making his marathon debut, achieved the feat 11 seconds later — 1:59:41.

Fittingly, like London buses, you wait an eternity for one, then two come along at once 🚌

Remarkable.

[The Marie Colvin Journalists' Network @MarieColvinNet]

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 fourteen years ago, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧 was deliberately targeted and killed by Assad’s forces in 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚, alongside French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik.

More in our latest newsletter🕊️ remembering Marie Colvin⟶
https://t.co/NJpcsdSZcU

[The Saudi British Society @SaudiBritishSoc]

SBS Trustee @SimonCollis11 sets out his thinking @bbc on the importance of Prince William’s visit to Saudi Arabia and how this can help strengthen ties between the two countries.

https://t.co/txvjXH5MVL

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

My interview with Arab News on the visit of #PrinceWilliam to #SaudiArabia

[Arab News @arabnews]

#LISTEN: The royal relationship runs at a deeper and longer wavelength than day-to-day politics, says @SimonCollis11, the former UK envoy to Saudi Arabia I Read more: https://t.co/sBYPSqfuZZ

[Stephen Hitchen FCDO @SCHitchenFCDO]

بكل لهفة وشوق ننتظر وصول ضيف صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير محمد بن سلمان، الأمير ويليام، خلال أول زيارة رسمية له إلى المملكة العربية السعودية. يا هلا بالضيف! 🇸🇦👑🇬🇧

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

@HZoete The difficulty of course lies in consistent follow through in word and deed until the culture shifts. That’s the hard part. And the reason why I welcomed your post!

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

Excellent advice. Mostly not new but bears constant repetition. And most of it also applies, with relevant tweaks, to leaders and aspiring leaders within the civil service itself.

[Henry de Zoete @HZoete]

Ministers and advisers often complain about how hard it is to make government work. They pull a lever and nothing happens.

I've been lucky enough to work in govt in several guises. Here are 14 lessons on how to get things done that I learnt the hard way.

(Please note I’m not giving a view on how govt should work or if it should be reformed. But rather how best to make things happen within the confines of the current system.)

1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND SET A DIRECTION.

Sounds obvious but it is surprisingly common for Ministers to not ask for anything.

The civil service flooded their time with advice and questions, and the Minister responded. But the Minister never put a fresh demand on the system.

They never invented something new or decided to go in a new direction, said it had to happen, and forced the civil service to reorganise itself to deliver.

This isn’t just about being ‘demanding’; plenty of Ministers know how to fuss about small items of business.

They splash around on the surface while the river carries on its usual course. What’s hard, and rare, is for Secretaries of State to redirect the river.

That is a lot of work. The first reaction of the civil service will be fatigue - they are already busy.

But deep down, all officials know that Secretaries of State with clear demands make for happier departments.

The civil service craves that direction. Without it, they float in the wind, buffeted by external events, the media and whims.

2. BE WILLING TO UPSET PEOPLE.

If you redirect the river this will mean new winners and new losers.

The civil service - incentivised to be risk averse - will raise this as a reason to take no action. This fear of “new losers” is one of the common reasons for Government inertia.

You have to look past these concerns, make the trade-off, tell people you accept the downside and that there will be costs but we have to get to a new position.

You have to provide the political cover for unhappiness.

3. MAKING IT HAPPEN IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

It’s a myth that an adviser spends their whole time practicing “dark arts”, wooing MPs or conspiring with the media.

A good adviser spends 90%+ of their time project managing priorities.

What does that mean?

It’s basic stuff. Meet the team responsible on Monday afternoon. Then Thursday. Then Monday again.

Repeat until it's done.

If you aren't willing to do this then don't complain if nothing happens.

4. PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE.

Steve Jobs once said “the most important job of someone like myself is recruiting”.

A good startup CEO spends 80%+ of their time recruiting.

I guarantee you that the Prime Minister, Ministers and advisers all spend <10% on recruitment.

This is madness.

Go find the best talent.

Identify the best civil servants in the system and persuade them to work in your department.

Recruit from outside.

5. ONLY EVER WRITE “GOOD” ON A MINISTERIAL SUBMISSION.

Ministers receive a red box of memos at the end of each day.

These memos - submissions - have a covering page in which advisers can pass their commentary on the material within (‘the box note’).

The only thing an adviser should write is:

"I've worked with the team on this. I am happy and agree with their approach and recommendation."

Anything else and you haven't done your job properly.

That doesn’t mean you are going easy on the civil service.

On the contrary: it means that you have been up in their business for weeks getting the advice to the right place.

You asked them to take you through the model, the options disregarded, the assumptions made, the assumptions rejected.

Now, you’re able to give your endorsement to the place they’ve reached.

This is how you build mutual respect and trust.

Advisers who use that little comment box to slag off the advice aren’t helping their Minister.

They’re signalling that they think the role of an adviser is to pass comment, not to help get things done.

The Minister has a role here in not indulging this mindset.

They should ask advisers who are disappointed with a submission: “what have you done to make it better?”

There will be legitimate occasions for advice to differ. In that case openly present two conflicting opinions for a decision.

But these should be rare.

Box notes rubbishing advice tend to represent a failure of the SPADs to get upstream and work with the civil service team.

6. DO AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE CROSS GOVERNMENT.

Getting stuff done in your own department is hard enough.

Requiring other departments to do what you want is 200% harder.

Focus on what you can control.

7. NEVER DO A 'WRITE-ROUND”.

A write round is when one dept asks all the other depts to give their view on their policy and veto it.

It’s obviously ludicrous for education to ask transport if it is ok to change A-levels.

All it does is lead to cross Whitehall negotiations slowing things down.

Officials will always suggest one because of “protocol”.

But ask to see the written rules about this. They don’t exist. Get No10/HMT backing and crack on.

8. LEGISLATION IS A LAST RESORT.

It takes forever. And once every MP and Lord has had their say it will be compromised into oblivion.

Use other levers to get what you want done. Statutory instruments, guidance or whatever is appropriate. Find a way.

9. FIND A FORCING FUNCTION.

Govt moves slowly.

Summits, speeches, deadlines. Nothing concentrates the mind like a public event.

Create your own moments to force the system to act.

The Bletchley Park AI Summit led to the AI Security Institute, the Bristol Isambard data centre, AI tools for teachers to cut their admin & the Bletchley declaration signed by 30 countries inc the US & China.

No summit = none of that. Or taken years longer.

10. NO MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT CHANGES.

Reorgs stop everything for 6-9 months. Avoid unless absolutely necessary.

11. DO NOT OVER CLAIM.

Never say "The PM or Secretary of State wants X" if it isn't true. You will be found out and lose all credibility.

Conversely, it can help an adviser early on in their tenure if their principal makes it clear that the adviser speaks for and on the Minister’s behalf.

The civil service will look for and want these signals.

Equally a SoS should never undermine their adviser in front of officials. Even if they disagree they must wait until behind closed doors.

An adviser that officials suspect doesn’t speak for their principal loses their ability to get things done.

12. CONTROL YOUR DIARY.

Seems obvious but it’s shocking how many people complain about their diary.

Private office will fill it up. That's their job.

I have no sympathy for any cries of how full your diary is. It’s your job to clear it for your priorities.

13. IT’S ALWAYS COCK UP NOT CONSPIRACY.

Government is huge. Leaks and failures happen.

Don't immediately jump to conclusions or assume malice.

Overreacting will make things worse.

14. STAY UPBEAT.

Government is slow and painful. It gets you down.

You need to bring optimism, agency and energy to push through.

Yes, it is hard. But there is no other place in the world where you can affect so much positive change.

FINAL THOUGHT:

A lot of these lessons apply in any large organisation.

The real divide in performance is not Public vs Private.

It's Small vs Large.

As orgs grow, they slow. Become more bureaucratic. That isn’t unique to the public sector.

So while I wrote this as advice for advisers in government, I hope a lot of it applies more broadly than that.

Being an adviser is a privilege. I’m lucky to have done it in a few different guises. I hope these lessons are helpful. And look forward to any critiques.

This is an abridged version of a piece I wrote for @Samfr's great substack. You can read the full version at the link in the next tweet.

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

@HZoete I know many of my former colleagues did likewise, drawing on their own experiences.

[Huda Mujarkech @HudaMCollis]

I left her with so many bags of love that I was over the weight allowance. I left her with the tears of a mother who entrusts her son to God's care until his return. I left her with the fear that death might betray me…

So many conflicting emotions rage inside me, a chaos of love and hope, between despair and optimism, between dreams and reality. It is enough for me that I gathered up stores of true feelings, the embrace of the years and memories sown throughout my life.

"You brought your light to Damascus" are such beautiful words to hear. That saying, "You brought your light to your homeland" is an honour that made me so happy after the Hated One humiliated her people.

Oh, my beautiful Damascus, in you lies a divine secret. We loved you in your youth, and we loved you even more in your weakness. I did not cry when I came, but oh, how I cried when I left you…

[Hassan I. Hassan @hxhassan]

The new Syrian currency uses tactile lines that enable blind users to tell denominations apart.

[الإخبارية السورية @AlekhbariahSY]

وزيرة الشؤون الاجتماعية والعمل هند قبوات ترافق المكفوفين لتجربة العملة السورية الجديدة برفقة حاكم المصرف المركزي عبد القادر الحصرية

#الإخبارية_السورية

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

Congratulations #Syria 🇸🇾 #سوريا الف اللف مبروك

[Thomas van Linge @ThomasVLinge]

Syria 🇸🇾 has been named Country of the Year 2025 by the @TheEconomist. A title well deserved!

'Syria in 2025 is far happier and more peaceful than it was in 2024. Fear is no longer universal. Life is not easy, but it is more or less normal for most people. Voting with their feet, some 3m Syrians have returned home. Our choice goes to Syria' https://t.co/jKOGCiJRQh

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

@CTurnerFCDO @UKinUSA Congratulations Christian!

[Simon Collis @SimonCollis11]

@thesundaysport Still Game knew https://t.co/ExSbtNQNzn