§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current establishment at each of United Kingdom's diplomatic missions overseas; what were the comparable figures in 1979; what posts have been closed since 1979; which new ones opened; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI refer the hon. Member to the current edition of Her Majesty's diplomatic service overseas reference list and the edition for 1979, copies of which are in the Library of the House. This publication provides details of staff at each overseas post. Posts opened since 1979 include: Kiribati, Belmopan, Brazzaville (November 1983), Managua, San Salvador (July 1984), Shanghai, Windhoek, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. British Diplomats are now also based in Kiev and St. Petersburg working to establish missions in those cities.
The following posts have been closed since 1979: Bergen, Cadiz, Ostend, Malmo, Winnipeg, San Salvador (February 1980), Adelaide, Palermo, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Basle, Calais, Ibadan, Innsbruck, Strasbourg, Tangier, Trieste, Rotterdam, Detroit, Hanover, Blantyre, Cagliari, Gothenburg, Halifax, Salonika, Santo Domingo, Vientianne, Vigo, Zagreb, Monrovia, Libreville, Brazzaville (August 1991) and Edmonton.