Parting Shots - Series 1 - Episode 2

Matthew Parris marks the passing of the valedictory despatch, the traditional final telegram home in which British ambassadors could let their hair down and settle a few scores. The series features newly declassified Foreign Office files alongside interviews with the diplomats who wrote them. How successful diplomacy requires an ambassador to both see beyond the shortcomings of their foreign hosts and persuade them to look kindly on our own.