Straw confirms cuts to overseas diplomats
The Foreign Secretary has confirmed that the Government is to close nine UK embassies and high commissions.
Earmarked for closure are operations in Tonga, Paraguay, Madagascar and East Timor among others.
In addition, a further nine consulates will be closed – though these will mainly be in Europe and America.
Some of the savings are expected to be used to beef up the UK’s presence in current hotspots like Afghanistan, Iraq and North Korea.
Announcing the changes in a written Commons statement, Jack Straw said: “The savings made will help to underpin higher priority work in line with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s strategic priorities, including counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, energy and climate change.
“Some of the savings will also be redeployed to strategic priority work within certain regions where we are closing posts. In Africa, for instance, we plan to create new jobs to cover these issues across the region, with a new post in Nairobi to help support our work on climate change, one in Nigeria to cover energy and one in Pretoria to cover regional issues more generally as well as covering Maseru and Mbabane.”
Commenting on the announcement, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said that there should have been more consultation on the move.
Sir Menzies said: “Diplomatic requirements are dynamic and inevitably subject to change. But the Government would find it much easier to maker a case about such closures if it was more forthcoming about the analysis which lie behind them.
“Issues of this kind should not be partisan, and some discussion and consultation with opposition parties would have been desirable.”
The Shadow Home Secretary Michael Ancram called on the Government to show that British commercial interests abroad would not be affected. He said: “Obviously there is a constant need to ensure that the UK receives value for money on its foreign missions.
“But the Government must give a far clearer reason for making the dramatic changes it has announced, and must show that British commercial interests and the interests of Britons abroad will not be adversely affected.”
