On the lovely Summer evening of June 24th, Mr & Mrs Gordon Toland most kindly hosted the Annual Summer Reception of the Conservative Foreign & Commonwealth Council (CFCC) in the garden of their home in West London.
A strong turn-out of Members, old and new, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Representatives from some 15 nations spanning all continents attended.
The guest speaker was CFCC’s Vice Chairman, Aphra Brandreth, Member of Parliament for Chester South and Eddisbury, who was elected at the 2024 General Election.
Guests were welcomed by Mr and Mrs Gordon Toland, the evening’s hosts, with a reminder that it was the week of the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo - a significant historical turning point -hopefully for Tories!
Baroness Meyer, CFCC’s Chairman then warmly introduced Aphra Brandreth MP who is making her mark in Parliament as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee only one of two Conservative MPs. Aphra spoke enthusiastically about her work on the Committee, explaining its role in scrutinizing, challenging and holding the Government to account. An example of this is that it will be examining the financial arrangements that are to be made via a Trust Fund for payment by the UK tax payer to the government of Mauritius. This is following the Government’s decision to transfer the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Maritius, while leasing back to the UK-US Military base on Diego Garcia at a cost of £101million for 99 years.
Aphra also spoke about the work of the Committee overseas: she had just returned from a trip to Washington D.C. to the Capitol and the headquarters of the United Nations and before that she visited Ukraine.
Aphra commented on the Committee’s ongoing enquiry into UK soft power, commenting that Britain is a soft power superpower. Examples, amongst others, of UK soft power are: the Royal Family, the Commonwealth, membership of the key international bodies such as the G7, the reach of the BBC World Service (to be protected from cutbacks) and the world-renowned academic and policy organisations that help shape the future in many fields.
In addition to this valuable work, Aphra Brandreth is looking after her constituents (a farming constituency) by introducing a Private Members Bill to protect the interests of the countryside, Many achievements for a new MP.
It was time for questions and Lord Taylor of Holbeach, former Chairman of the CFCC joined Lady Meyer to host a Q & A session.
The questions and comments included observations on the use of ODA funds, and the general direction of the Conservative Party on Foreign Affairs - the Middle East, Ukraine, Trade, Trump and much else.
An enjoyable evening for all and thanks to all who had organised it and assisted with the arrangements.
William Knight
27.06 2025
