| Will there be extra costs in setting up embassies? |
| Wednesday, 18 March 2009 14:50 |
| Scottish taxpayers have already paid their share of the considerable - and sometimes extravagant - expenditure on UK embassies. After Independence, we will be able to use this Foreign Affairs budget on our own representation abroad. The SNP, looking to the example of most other small countries, does not seek to imitate the imperial pretensions of the UK Foreign Office, which owns over £1.1 billion worth of land, offices and residences around the world. Instead we would use our financial share of these UK assets to establish a smaller number of embassies, sharing some of our facilities with those of other EU states in some countries. We believe that Scotland will represent its culture and industry around the world far more effectively for itself in this way, rather than by being misrepresented and underrepresented by the UK. The SNP believes that the Scottish Parliament, even before Independence is declared, should set up “commercial embassies” to promote Scottish industry and exports around the world, and would see these developing into full-scale diplomatic presences. |
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