Visit from diplomat Tom Fletcher
The intricacies of high level government meetings with Barack Obama, George W Bush and Angela Merkel were just some of the topics touched on by former British diplomat Tom Fletcher CMG, who addressed a group of Headington girls in the Hive lecture theatre on Wednesday.
Mr Fletcher, who is now Principal of Hertford College in Oxford, was formerly a foreign policy and Northern Ireland advisor to Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron. After this, he served as the British Ambassador to Lebanon for four years.
Mr Fletcher, whose grandmother attended Headington School, took questions from the audience and discussed issues ranging from the UN General Assembly and climate change, the personalities of former UK prime ministers and US presidents and how to manage stress in the workplace when you are an assassination target.
He told students to remain optimistic about the future and to use technology as a tool to solve real world problems. He also encouraged girls to consider a role in the diplomatic service which he had found to be a most stimulating career choice.
