§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Joint Declarations of the St. Malo summit for(a) future co-location of embassies and (b) sharing of restricted information pertaining to local politics in African countries. [66342]
§ Mr. Tony LloydThe St. Malo Declaration on Africa agreed that both governments would explore the scope for co-location of Embassies. This would involve sharing premises in one or more sites, if there were benefits to be gained from doing so. We have done this successfully with other countries elsewhere in the world. The Declaration also included provisions for information sharing on the situation in Africa, in particular on countries where either the UK or France is not represented. We see this as a useful area for cooperation, which will be of mutual benefit and will extend our knowledge of these countries.