Cutting the Foreign Office

Spending cuts are coming – we all know that.  And if any party is serious about tackling the debt mountain, then pretty much every department will have to face the axe in some form or other.  But wherever that axe falls, you can expect loud protest in reponse.  Cut the RAF, and a former Chief of the RAF will pop up on TV and say that the cuts will endanger the nation. Rationalise the NHS, and the party responsible will be called heartless. Close the High Commission in Port Moresby, and the newspapers will be full of stories about the historical link between Britain and Papua New Guinea.

So to make matters easier for a future foreign secretary, I have decided to have a first go at cutting British legations – i.e. its embassies, high commissions and consulates. Because there are so many, I have restricted my knife-wielding to Asia, Oceania, Europe and South America.