To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will list the countries where the UK has (a) closed and (b) downgraded its embassy or high commission in each year since 1997. (97505)

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 26 October 2005, Official Report, column 467W by the then Foreign Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). The following is a list of British embassy and high commission closures since this answer was given:

No British embassies or high commissions have been downgraded since 1997 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no current plans to downgrade any such missions in the future.

The FCO continuously reviews the deployment of its resources and aligns them flexibly in line with UK interests to benefit the British taxpayer.