Over 60 people, including members of the Consular Corps, the BRA and their friends, the BSCC, the English Speaking Club of Zürich and Mrs Julia Morais from the Integration Department of the Canton of Zürich, were present at the Belvoir Park Restaurant, Zurich, on 7 June to toast the health of Her Majesty the Queen. In an inspirational address, Roger Balsiger, the former Honorary Consul in Zürich, surprised many with the news that the British Foreign Office had closed all Honorary Consulates in Switzerland. It is common knowledge that Honorary Consuls work for free and receive only a symbolic contribution to their expenses. This made the audience wonder about many things, including the fact that no member of the Berne Embassy was present, which is after all one of the key events in any expatriate citizen’s calendar living in the area.
Mr Balsiger noted that Switzerland was not alone in the closing of British Honorary Consulates. The Consulate in Florence, Britain’s oldest dating back to 1456, also no longer existed despite the fact that there are still over 15,000 Britons living in the area. He went on to say “So for Britain, this is nearly the only bit of bad news – apart from the weak Pound Sterling, apart from 20% of 16-24 years old Britons without jobs, and 23.4% of the employable people being economically inactive …..So is there reason for total despair then? – I believe not.” Among the reasons Mr Balsiger gave for believing this were that he felt the Coalition government in the UK had a chance of fulfilling the goals set for the legislative period, the good feeling generated by the recent Royal Wedding with a Royal Family member marrying a Commoner, the first official visit of a British reigning monarch to the independent Republic of Ireland and the revival of the Special Relationship between the USA and Great Britain following President Obama’s visit.
The speech ended on a humorous note with an Alfred Hitchcock quotation that “the length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder” and that, Mr Balsiger felt, applied just as much to a speech! His remarks did much to strengthen everyone’s affection for England. However, many left the evening feeling grateful to be resident in a country where the notions of style and respect seem to carry more meaning. There was also a sense of hope that perhaps, the Royal Wedding may have planted a seed in debt-ridden England, heralding a brighter and hopefully more dignified future.
A warm thank you to Royalton Partners of Zurich for generously sponsoring the event!
Robin Hull