16 Facts About Brian Barder

Sir Brian Leon Barder was a British diplomat, author, blogger and civil liberties advocate.

Brian Barder was educated at Sherborne School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Footlights, the Cambridge University Musical Comedy Club, the St Catharine's College Boat Club and the Cambridge University Labour Club.

Brian Barder did his National Service as 2nd Lieutenant, 7th Royal Tank Regiment, in Hong Kong.

Brian Barder joined the Colonial Office in London in 1957.

Brian Barder returned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London as Assistant Head of West African Department, including dealing with Biafra.

Brian Barder became First Secretary and Press Attache, Moscow ; and Counsellor and Head of Chancery, British High Commission, Canberra.

Brian Barder was British Ambassador to Ethiopia ; Ambassador to Poland ; High Commissioner to Nigeria and concurrently Ambassador to Benin and High Commissioner to Australia.

Brian Barder played a key role in making possible the deployment of the Royal Air Force to Ethiopia for 14 months to move relief supplies from the ports to remote parts of the country where it was urgently needed.

Brian Barder was a Know-How Fund Consultant for diplomatic training in East and Central Europe ; a member of the Committee of the Speech and Debate Centre of the English-Speaking Union ; a member of the Board of Management of the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability ; a founder member of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ; and Honorary Visiting Fellow to the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester.

Brian Barder was appointed to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in November 1997, three years after his retirement from the diplomatic service.

Brian Barder resigned in January 2004 when the Government extended the role of SIAC in a way which he believed to be contrary to Britain's international obligations.

Brian Barder set out the reasons for his resignation in the London Review of Books and in The Guardian.

Brian Barder took the view, subsequently endorsed by the Law Lords, that sending people to prison indefinitely and without trial and without even being charged with any offence was a breach of Britain's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998.

Brian Barder had articles and letters published in The Political Quarterly, London Review of Books, Prospect, The Times, The Guardian, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, and elsewhere.

Brian Barder was Editorial Consultant for A Dictionary of Diplomacy and contributed to the Third Edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage.

Brian Barder wrote and kept a diary during his overseas postings, covering some of his time in the USSR, Ethiopia, Poland and Nigeria.