§ 52. Sir G. de Freitasasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that the gross national product of the State of California is greater than that of all but four foreign countries, namely the United States, Germany, France and Japan and how the United Kingdom's diplomatic representation takes account of this fact.
§ Mr. William RodgersYes, but the gross national product of an area is only one of the factors relevant to the scale of representation. At present 11 home-based and 42 locally engaged staff are employed in the Consulates-General at Los Angeles and San Francisco, whose prime function is commercial. If more staff are needed to promote British exports to California they will be provided. We have more than twice as many commercial staff in the United States as a whole as we have in any other country except Germany.