Patricularly interesting part is
" It is worth mentioning that, of these examples, only the Luxembourg business was conducted mainly in English. I was dismayed to learn recently that neither the Middle East director in the Foreign Office nor two of our ambassadors in important Gulf countries can speak Arabic."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/22/ambassadors-relations-diplomacy-cameron
This does seem to show a lack of awareness of the importance of languages among the people in power.