HL Deb 21 October 1975 vol 364 cc1396-406

10.45 p.m.

Lord MERRIVALE rose to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider appointing a resident United Kingdom-based career Consul in Tananarive, in view of the recent decision to close the British Embassy in the Malagasy Republic, and the desirability of retaining a permanent presence. The noble Lord said: My Lords, before going into the question of a resident United Kingdom-based career Consul in Tananarive, may I apologise for delaying your Lordships, in particular the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, at this late hour.

May I refer very briefly to the historical and lasting friendship between Madagascar and this country which started early in the last century, no doubt from the time when our Governor in Mauritius, Sir Robert Farquhar, sent from 1816 onwards such envoys as the English Captain Lesage, James Hastie and the Reverend David Jones of the London Missionary Society. It was he who founded the first school in Tananarive in 1820. Two years later, four English workers—Brooks, Rowlands, Chick and Canham—were received by King Radama I. In 1824 the three schools of the English missionaries Jones, Jeffreys and Griffiths were merged into the Royal Missionary College. In 1836 appeared the first Anglo-Malagasy dictionary.

To move on, in 1862 a British Consulate was established and in 1865 a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty—that is, Queen Victoria—and the Queen of Madagascar was signed in Tananarive on 27th June in the English and Malagasy languages by Her Majesty's Consul, T. C. Pakenham—a distant relative, I understand, of the noble Earl, Lord Longford. Article 1 is interesting, for it reads as follows: Peace, friendship and good understanding shall from henceforward and forever subsist between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Her Majesty the Queen of Madagascar and between their respective heirs, successors and subjects". Again to move on, in 1891 a Britisher, the Reverend Peake, founded the Centre for Lepers at Manankavaly. In the same year a new hospital was opened at Isoavinandriana which had been erected by the Friends Foreign Mission Association. And, of course, in 1896 on 16th September General Gallieni of France arrived in Tananarive.

It was not until 1960 that a British Embassy was established there upon Malagasy Independence. Only 15 years later the decision was taken to close the Embassy as part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's contribution to a cutback in public spending for 1976–77 of £1,100 million. I shall therefore now try to convince your Lordships that it is desirable to retain a permanent presence in Tananarive and that the cost would be low and the benefits high.

First of all, let us consider what property Her Majesty's Government own or rent in Madagascar and what has been the cost in foreign exchange of running the post in Tananarive. A reduction in cost could certainly be achieved should Her Majesty's Government be willing to consider maintaining one United Kingdom-based officer, with some supporting staff, and maintaining Villa Elizabeth for residential and office accommodation. The noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, will know that Villa Elizabeth, the Ambassador's residence, at Ivandry near Tananarive was bought in 1966. He knows, as I do, the price paid for it then. Since that date, £14,000 has been spent on alterations and maintenance and over £3,000 on furnishings. In 1972 Villa Concorde, the First Secretary's residence, was bought and since then £3,000 has been paid out in alterations. Thirdly, Her Majesty's Government own a plot of land of 7,221 square metres in a residential area of Tananarive. Finally, there is the rented office accommodation.

Over the past year, 1974–75, the cost in foreign exchange of running the complete post at Tananarive was £34,300; that is. £37,053 less certain receipts and recoveries. It is my considered belief that with a reduction in staff, in accommodation, in communications, journeys and local transport, a local saving of up to £20,000 could be made, with a corresponding reduction in the United Kingdom.

In spite of the arrival today in Tananarive of two Department of the Environment experts, the property market is not good at the moment in the Malagasy Republic, and that is why, too, I would most sincerely urge Her Majesty's Government to retain Villa Elizabeth. From recent photographs I showed the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, I trust he will agree that it is suitably situated, adequate for residential accommodation of a United Kingdom-based career Consul and for a non-resident Ambassador when visiting Tananarive; most suitable for him for entertaining purposes, even on a reduced scale, and totally satisfactory for office accommodation. No extra security arrangements need be called for as all ciphered messages could be handled through the nonresident Ambassador's office in a neighbouring country.

I should now like to put forward what I consider to be valid reasons for retaining a permanent presence in Tananarive. First, the new Head of State, President Didier Ratsiraka came to power on 15th June last and the new Government was set up on 16th June. A few weeks later Her Majesty's Government announced their decision to close the British Embassy for reasons of economy—even before the appearance of the President's Socialist Charter, which was published by Madagascar presse on 13th September last. This charter refers to aid as being supplementary rather than complementary and it draws attention to the fact that 85 per cent. of the population live in rural areas and that there is a need to raise the standard of living of the peasants so that they may also become consumers of the products of the country's light industries in the future.

Paragraph 102 of Cmnd. 6223 An Account of the British Aid Programme reads as follows: It is a central objective of U.K. aid policy to give a greater emphasis to rural development. There would appear, therefore, to be no divergence of opinion. I press Her Majesty's Government to make a greater percentage of aid available to the Malagasy Government than in the past. In 1973, the amount of aid was only about 0.1 per cent. of the United Kingdom's bilateral aid for Africa as a whole, and only 1.2per cent. for non-Commonwealth Africa. However, with regards to rural development, I understand that Her Majesty's Government are prepared to consider an "integrated package of technical assistance in a self-contained project", or are very willing to consider other possibilities if the Malagasy authorities have other ideas in mind.

When recently in Tananarive, I had the pleasure of being received by Mr. Pierre Rajaonah, the Minister for Rural Development, and I mentioned this to him. It might, therefore, be apposite to mention that he is to visit the United Kingdom this month at the invitation of a British finance company, appertaining to a joint venture to grow sugar cane and build a refinery in the Mandrare Valley area. The capacity is to be up to 80,000 tons per year, with the possibility of extending it to 150,000 tons.

Another principal activity in the aid field so far as we are concerned—since about 1970, I understand—has been English language teaching. May I add, therefore, that the learning of English by Malagasy students is one of the top priorities of the Malagasy authorities, as confirmed to me when I saw him by Mr. Razakaboana, Minister for Finance, and for the Plan. I was therefore very pleased that nine students should have arrived at the Colchester English Study Centre on 5th October last, but nine students is not enough. Another priority is the sending to the City of London of their insurance or re-insurance personnel and banking personnel, to study our ways and methods in other words, a recyclage, as they said to me in Madagascar. Such priorities do not seem to be in conflict with Government policy, and ought therefore to be actively pursued. There are other needs, too, but these can be mentioned on another occasion.

With regard to trade, the figures are no doubt small, but they could certainly be increased to some degree. Our exports to Madagascar in 1974 totalled £1,870,000, and our imports from Madagascar totalled £3,183,000, in which, of course, butter beans played a significant part. Recently when I called upon the Minister for Economy and Trade, Mr. Justin Rarivoson, until fairly recently general manager for Shell in Madagascar, he mentioned two areas where they would like to import more from this country. I hope, therefore, that we will reciprocate. I might add that 8,000 tons of sugar are waiting in storage—and there is a shortage of storage there—to be shipped to this country. Perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, may be able to use his influence to see that the sugar is brought over here fairly soon. I am also authoritatively informed that Malagasy cotton is more or less on a par with Egyptian cotton with regard to quality. My visit to the Minister for Trade followed a successful Press conference which he gave, and which was reported in the Press under the heading "Rarivoson unshrivels the economic life of the country". During the course of this Press conference he announced, too, that anew investment code would shortly be forthcoming.

On a government-to-government level (but through, too, the good and effective services of our well-liked Commercial Counsellor Mr. Marcelin) there has been a fairly recent tendency for the Malagasy authorities to seek in this country equipment which they had previously bought from France. For instance, in March last year they took delivery of a Britten-Norman Defender aircraft (which is based on the Islander 12.seater turbo-prop). Might I add that Lt. Col. Rakotonirina (a member of the Comité Militaire de Developpement—CMD) who visited this country several times regarding the acquisition of this aircraft, like many influential Malagasys, studied under an English missionary.

Finally, I believe there are other reasons, too, why we should retain a permanent presence in Tananarive, apart from the historical past, friendly ties, the cultural aspect, the British aid aspect, and the trading aspect. Regarding this last consideration, I think it should be borne in mind that the Malagasy authorities are very keen to develop their relations with Anglophone East Africa, too.

During the course of my 12-day visit to Tananarive, I had the pleasure of meeting the Head of State, members of his Government, members of the Armed Forces, business people, and old Malagasy friends, members of the legal profession, doctors and peasants, too. I can truthfully say that I am quite convinced that there is a genuine desire that we should not lessen our interest or presence in Madagascar. I am well aware that the new charter calls for a policy of "opening all azimuths", thus diversifying their international relations. This means, for one, a greater Chinese presence and influence, but it is not to the detriment of, or directed against, our country. On the contrary, there is a continuing desire for having close and friendly contacts with the United Kingdom.

Might I mention at this point that during the course of a reception kindly given by our Chargé d'Affaires and Mrs. Rex Hammond for Malagasy personalities and foreign diplomats, the question of the closure of our Embassy arose in discussion with Eastern and Western representatives at Ambassador or Chargé d'Affaires level. Her Majesty's Government's decision, I must say, was certainly not understood. I think we should not minimise the political influence of Madagascar, arising partly from its geographical position and partly from the policies which the government intend to pursue. The Russian fleet, too, is still in the Indian Ocean, and the Americans are consequently occupying the Diego Garcia communications base.

In conclusion, I should have thought that the various factors, outlined during the course of my speech, might warrant—and I sincerely pray so—that a permanent presence in the Malagasy Republic be maintained, not just an honorary Consul who is not even empowered to issue visas; and I understand that these were delivered over the past year to the tune of around £2,500. I therefore plead for the appointment of a resident United Kingdom-based career Consul in Tananarive.

11.5 p.m.

The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)

My Lords, I am sure that I should first pay tribute to the contribution which the noble Lord, Lord Merrivale, has made to Anglo-Malagasy friendship, and the interest which he continues to show in the relations between the two countries, and indeed in the relations between Francophone Africa and the United Kingdom. Her Majesty's Government are also anxious to preserve the friendly relationship which has marked the long historical association between our two island peoples.

The decision to close our Embassy in Tananarive was taken after much heart-searching, and it was entirely due to economic pressures. As the noble Lord quite fairly pointed out, Her Majesty's Government have found it necessary to reduce public expenditure in the financial year 1976–77 on goods and services, including manpower, by 1½ per cent. The Diplomatic Service, no less than any other Department of Government, must share the load. In view of the high proportion of the Diplomatic Service Vote which is devoted to staff salaries, the only way in which it is possible to achieve a sufficient permanent saving of expenditure is to cut out actual jobs. Every effort was made to avoid the need to close overseas posts. But some closures have been forced upon us, not for the first time of course. We are constantly reviewing the viability and the efficacy of our posts abroad, and from time to time closures become logically necessary. I am sure that noble Lords will recognise that staffing at individual posts must be maintained at a level which makes the maintenance of such a post reasonably viable. There is a line below which posts cease to be adequately operated.

The Embassy in Tananarive employed three United Kingdom-based officers of diplomatic rank at a cost of approximately £80,000 per annum. It was not thought practicable to maintain an Embassy with a smaller staff.

Lord MERRIVALE

My Lords, may I interrupt the noble Lord? I do so with humility. Is the £80,000 which I have heard as being the cost of maintaining our Embassy the actual cost, or is it in effect, as I understand it is, a pro rata cost of a worldwide basis that does not bear a true relationship to what it costs to run it at a particular point, taking into consideration also the cost in London?

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for that interjection. It enables me to explain and clarify a point which he made in his introductory speech. We are not primarily concerned with foreign exchange costs. We are required to achieve a total saving in public expenditure as a whole, and the costs of the Mission in these terms was £78,000, which is nearly £80,000. I think that is the distinction that the noble Lord wished to clarify in his speech and in his interjection. As I was saying, the cost, according to the definition that I have given, is approximately £80,000 per annum. For very much the same reasons as I have given, our Embassies at Lomé, Managua and Tegucigalpa are to be closed and some Consulates, such as those at Miami and Valencia, are to be closed.

Perhaps I may at this point address myself to the meritorious point the noble Lord made about British exports to Madagascar. Quite rightly, he quoted our 1974 exports as £1.87 million and indeed this year, between January and July, they were £1.1 million, which indicates that at least the level of last year should be maintained. The noble Lord's figures are correct on that point. At the same time, our exports to Honduras, Togo and Nicaragua are greatly in excess of our exports to Madagascar and these are countries where we have to close our representation. We do not want to close any Embassy anywhere but, as I have said, from time to time it becomes logical and necessary to do so. Madagascar is not the only instance at this point where we have to reduce our diplomatic representation. There are other countries about which conceivably an Unstarred Question debate could with equal logic and force be raised in this House. Tananarive is not, therefore, in a unique position, and I must emphasise again that our decision was entirely governed by economic considerations.

Coming to the noble Lord's second point, having decided on the closure of a post the question arises of how to provide adequate residual representation both diplomatic and consular. In the case of the Malagasy Republic, we are currently discussing with their Government the accreditation as non-resident British Ambassador of one of our Heads of Mission from a nearby country. This, as noble Lords will appreciate, is a practice commonly adopted around the world and indeed there are already several nonresident Ambassadors accredited by other countries, some of them neighbours of ours, in Tananarive. So there will still be a British Ambassador to Madagascar, though he will not be resident there and will be visiting this country occasionally. The Malagasy Government have accepted such a proposal in principle in our case, as indeed they have accepted and implemented a similar position in regard to other countries which have proceeded very much as we are proceeding now.

The noble Lord's Question is, I think, directed specifically towards the future nature of our consular representation. I listened carefully to what he said on this point, as I did to his entire speech, but our community in Madagascar is small, there being only 66 people of United Kingdom origin amid a total British community of 238. Given the happy circumstances which characterise our relations with Madagascar, I feel that an honorary consul would be adequate to provide essential services on behalf of such a community. We must necessarily ensure that the economies which have been affected are not eroded.

A career Consul would require housing, allowances and office space and that would be pretty considerable compared to the small honorarium payable to an honorary Consul, plus the necessary expenses which he would need to be paid, including some limited secretarial assistance. However, the real question is whether there would be a proper job for a full-time Consul here. This is especially so when we are under strong pressure to economise and when there are other countries with what is clearly a stronger claim on our resources.

On the merits of the case, an honorary Consul would be capable of the job which remains. The appointment of a career Consul may seem a drop in the ocean of Government expenditure. The Diplomatic Service Vote itself is not a very big drop. It is 0.25 per cent.— a quarter of one per cent.—of our total public expenditure last year. I should like to say that I hope our country and people appreciate the quite extraordinary range and quality of service which our Diplomatic Services render to this country for this very tiny percentage of our gross national expenditure. It is only a quarter of one per cent. of everything we spend.

So the amount itself is only a drop in the ocean, but it is a drop which is made up of a number of still smaller drops. When we are asked, like other Government Departments, to effect economies, it may be that your Lordships will agree with me that it may bear specially heavily on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as compared with the mammoth Departments with which we are surrounded and which outbid us in size and expenditure, if not in quality. We have faced similar situations in other countries where we have had to close a post. This is not for the first time. We have closed Embassies before now and always there has been a proper objection and outcry. In nearly all of the other closures, our community is larger and our trading interest, present and potential, is larger. But we must be prepared to cut our coat according to the cloth available.

There is a strong demand that public expenditure should be reduced. We are doing that. I hope that people are not generally in favour of reducing public expenditure, but particularly objecting to one or the other item within that reduction. This is what my Department, like others, must bear as part of the burden. We should also remember that the revolution in communications and modern travel has allowed us to vary the nature of our diplomatic activity. In the days which the noble Lord mentioned in his very interesting speech, weeks and months were required to complete one exchange of correspondence with London. Nowadays, communications need take only hours or, at the most, days.

I am afraid that I cannot in honesty hold out to the noble Lord any possibility of this decision being reconsidered in the way he wants. What I can tell him is that no one could have put the case with greater fairness and more cogency than he has done tonight. He has placed on the Record a very good case for our watching the position very carefully in regard to this old and valued friend of this country. Beyond that I cannot go. I mean it when I say that the noble Lord rendered a service by setting out the case in the way he has, and I can assure him that what he has said will be borne in mind in the immediate and in the longer term future, because we agree with him that the closer our relations are with Madagascar the better for both countries.