§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 30 January, on how many occasions in each of the last five years Her Majesty's Government have acceded to a request that a person outside the normal categories should be regarded as having diplomatic status; if he will list the persons and countries involved; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI regret that the information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 30 January, if he will now provide a breakdown by country of the 77 traffic offences by drivers of cars with diplomatic registration; in how many of these cases casualties were involved; what is Her Majesty's Government's policy toward making it a condition of the continued stay in the United Kingdom of diplomats who commit drinking and driving offences, that they should undertake to refrain from driving for the remainder of their period of accreditation; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerInjury was involved in nine of the cases referred to in the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on 27 January.
We require the removal of any diplomat who commits a second alleged drunken driving offence, or after the first if it is aggravated by violence or injury to a third party.
If a diplomat is allowed to remain in this country after a reported first offence we do not require him to undertake to refrain from driving. Any such undertaking could not be enforced.