Richmond Diplomatic Society Meet the UK Defence and Foreign Secretary

10/03/2011

Saed Sarsur, President of the Richmond Diplomatic Society and Ms. Lea Garret, an active member of the group and student of International Relations, have participated in three days of diplomatic training at the Houses of Parliament, where they met with the Secretary of Defence, Dr. Liam Fox and the Foreign Secretary, William Hague.

The session began on March 7th when Mr. Sarsur and Ms. Garret joined the Communities and Local Government committee for a discussion of the Audit and Inspection of local authorities. Here they met with Mr. Peter Holland, the President of the Chief Fire Officers Association who said: “I am proud indeed to meet these young students and I am looking forward to cooperating with them in other projects in the near future.”

On the second day they joined MP Dr. Francis Hywel, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and other committee members, and discussed the Human Rights Implications of UK Extradition Policy. Dr. Hywel observed, “It’s great to have representatives of Richmond University here with us in Parliament, and I hope they will promote the topic of Human Rights among the student community”.

On the final day they had access to Prime Minister’s Question time, where they saw the PM, David Cameron in his weekly appearance. Afterwards they continued to Portcullis House where they joined the Defence Committee and met with the Secretary of State for Defence, Dr. Liam Fox, and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, William Hague.

Dr. Fox remarked, “The defence committee is a good frame of learning and training, and I hope that Saed and Lea will get as much experience as they can. The concept of the Diplomatic Society as Mr. Sarsur describes is very interesting indeed. I am sure that Richmond University is proud of these students. I wish Saed and Lea all the best and looking forward seeing them again”.

Mr. Sarsur noted, “It is an honour being here with these individuals. After I met the honourable gentlemen and saw them acting in person, I can proudly say that both Dr. Fox and Mr. Hague are representing the true values of politics,and I have the privilege to learn from both of them and meet them in person. Dr. Fox is an interesting character indeed, and I was glad to find out that we are sharing many ideas and interests together, I am thankful for the hospitality and privileged to be trained by such professionals.”

Ms. Garret: “It is so great to be here in the Parliament; we learned so many things and met with secretaries, Members of Parliament and Ministers. The experience which we got is amazing, and I’m looking forward to participate more in the diplomatic society.”

Dr. James D. Boys, the faculty advisor to the Richmond Diplomatic Society is delighted with the initiative and tenacity that the group’s president has shown. “This is a society that Saed and I have been discussing for a while and it is wonderful to see the results of his hard work starting to bear fruit. This is a fantastic enterprise that is taking the university to a whole new level and along with the MA in IR, taking the institute into the corridors of power. Saed is to be commended for the leadership that he has shown in this initiative.”

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1079.aspx