Bruce Bucknell

Ex 🇬🇧 diplomat.
A greener, fairer future;
more random, poetic tweets.
Migrating slowly maybe to:
@

[Rosemary Thomas @rozzthomas]

Easter is a time for hope. Ukrainian children must be returned home. I’m supporting this campaign by @UKFriendUkraine #ReturnTheStolenChilden

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Great line from a good
interview: politics led
by people, not cash.
.

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Harry Quilter-Pinner of the IPPR think-tank: "The rules should be changed so that Elon Musk cannot give £100m to one political party, either through X or shell companies. We need a democracy that is driven by people and not by money."

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Glad to meet you
@kavaleuski,
and catch up
with @rozzthomas.
.

[Valery Kavaleuski @kavaleuski]

Grateful for the opportunity to meet @rozzthomas and @Bruce_Bucknell - two outstanding British diplomats who served as ambassadors to Belarus.
Thank you for your contribution to relations between our peoples and for your continued interest in the situation in Belarus.

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

I’m grateful to have been an observer
with the @osce_odihr mission to
the parliamentary elections in #Georgia
that took place on 26 October.

It was a joy to return to such a lovely country.

1/5

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

@YuanfenYang Are you thinking of
joining Blue Sky?
Good if all Labour MPs
could join to talk to ....
people like me!

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

I observed the UK general elections
of 4 July with @DVUKObservers.
Final report here notes the numbers
turned away from polling stations
for lack of the correct ID.

Look forward to seeing what
@ElectoralCommUK find from
their research on whether ID
depressed turnout.
.

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Indeed!
A few examples come
to mind:
1939, 1948, 1956,
1968, 1980, 2008,
2014 and now 2022.
No wonder the Finns
applied to join NATO,
and Ukraine wants
to follow.
.

[Rosemary Thomas @rozzthomas]

This is scandalous, misinformed, naive and arrogant. Pressing Ukraine to give up territory just invites yet another division of territory 10 years down the line. Look up the history books! Letter: Seize peace in Ukraine before it’s too late https://t.co/2aiRbrJ3hH via @ft

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Top riposte
.

[Andrew Levi @AndrewPRLevi]

Lord @RSkidelsky (letter @FT 10 July: ‘Seize peace in Ukraine before it’s too late’ - see link) makes the astounding claim that:

“If peace based on roughly the present division of forces in Ukraine is inevitable, it is immoral not to try for it now”. /1.

https://t.co/wl0pfs4m5X

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Good for you! Better
not to have to respond to
a naive letter....

.

[Ian Bond @CER_IanBond]

I'm pleased to be among the signatories to this response to the proposal by Lord Skidelsky & others for the West to push Ukraine to accept 'peace' on Russia's terms: https://t.co/4O3iAis4N1

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

@LRB @piercepenniless Dispiriting piece:
better a big win than not,
to launch project change.

#Twitter better as #haiku
.

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Lots of good advice:
sensible, prioritised;
the key question:

what does Labour mean
being ".. a leading nation
in Euope again"?

.

[Charles Grant @CER_Grant]

My open letter to @Keir_Starmer, in which I suggest ten ways in which he could help to forge a better and closer relationship with the EU. @CER_EU
https://t.co/ID2hmoiR7v

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

@johnbonetweets @electoralreform Seems we may agree
(unusual for Twitter!...
and best in #haiku)

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Excellent thread here:
better considered thinking
than instant comment.
.

[Richard Haviland @rfhaviland]

Much as I idolise Ian, it’s a classic illustration of the mindset of many progressives towards the SNP that in a single tweet he can both acknowledge the damage of Brexit and imply that Westminster bears no responsibility for anything that’s gone wrong in Scotland. THREAD

[Richard Haviland @rfhaviland]

Much as I idolise Ian, it’s a classic illustration of the mindset of many progressives towards the SNP that in a single tweet he can both acknowledge the damage of Brexit and imply that Westminster bears no responsibility for anything that’s gone wrong in Scotland. THREAD

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Glad to see #France is
celebrating #worldswiftday -
so many here in ...

... rural #Languedoc -
though numbers are down here too
local groups advise.

#jourmartinet

[Waterways Protection 💙 #EndSewagePollution @WaterWaysProtct]

If you see a swift like this. Pick it up, hold it up, and let it fly off. They can't take off from the ground or flat surfaces. RT this. It could save a swift.

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

I wonder if the guidance:

https://t.co/6Ep79GniSh

is still extant?

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

I see #Britishvalues
is trending.

The 2010 Cameron
administrationg issued
guidance on the British
values to be taught in
schools:

Democracy,
the rule of law,
individual liberty, and
mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.

1/2

[Bruce Bucknell @Bruce_Bucknell]

Glad to see my
former FCDO colleague
Vijay Rangarajan is
the new head of
@ElectoralCommUK.

Hope he knows
Democracy Volunteers
@DVUKObservers, UK's
own domestic election
observer NGO.

Will he use his former
Twitter handle @VijayR_HMG?
I think we should be told!
.

[Electoral Commission @ElectoralCommUK]

Our CEO, Vijay Rangarajan, spoke to @BBCr4today about yesterday’s elections and the impact of voter ID

“Seems like a good set of well-run elections yesterday, and a massive thank you to electoral administrators and staff for that.”

🎧Listen⬇️(from 56:22)
https://t.co/3UVVxPmrx7