By Wikipedia Despite its image of promoting boycotts of Israeli academic institutions – which have never actually been carried out – the United Kingdom and its…
The British Council is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation based in the United Kingdom which specialises in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is a non-departmental public body, a public corporation incorporated by royal charter, and is registered as a charity in England. Founded in 1934, it was granted a royal charter by King George VI in 1940. Its 'sponsoring department' within the United Kingdom Government is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although it has day-to-day operational independence. Martin Davidson is its chief executive, appointed in April 2007. Its most recent Chair was Lord Kinnock, the former leader of the UK Labour Party and a former European Commissioner. Kinnock stepped down after a meeting of the Board of Trustees on 7 July 2009 following the appointment of his wife to the House of Lords and as a Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is the sponsoring department of British Council. Their son Stephen Kinnock - who was previously British Council's main lobbyist in Brussels and St Petersburg - left in January 2009 to take up a job with The World Economic Forum after he was expelled from Russia. The Deputy Chair of British Council - Labour housing activist Gerard Lemos who is also a director of British Council's "off record" company British Council International Trading Limited - has taken over as Acting Chairperson until a successor to Lord Kinnock is recruited.
