By IRNA,
London : The British government was accused Thursday of drawing up a secret hit list of embassies to be closed as a result of the sharp fall in the value of the pound.
Conservative shadow foreign minister David Lidington claimed an internal Foreign Office memorandum ordered officials to work out plans for substantial cuts “which could be implemented soon after the election,” due in May.
The memo stated that further cuts “should not be achieved by salami-slicing but instead by stopping activity, closing posts and reducing staff numbers”, according to Lidington.
The charge followed claims that the government had made cutbacks in counterterrorism programmes in Pakistan due to the falling value of the pound.
Answering an emergency parliamentary question, Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant confirmed that the Foreign Office budget had been hit by a weak pound, which has left a shortfall of £110m, a figure expected to grow in 2010-11 due to further fluctuations.
But he denied that this represented a cut in spending, saying that the budget for counterterrorism programmes was rising year on year and that the percentage of the sum being spent in Pakistan had also risen.
The emergency questioned followed the disclosure by fellow Foreign Office Minister Lady Kinnock on Wednesday that programmes to tackle terrorism and radicalisation in Pakistan had been hit by a decision to transfer exchange rate risks from the Treasury to the Foreign Office.
Lidington said it was “appalling” to see Prime Minister Gordon Brown talking about the fight against terrorism while Kinnock was outlining the impact of exchange rate problems on the counterterrorism programme.
He urged minister to “come clean” about the issue, demanding a “full list” of the cuts being made due to the exchange rate “debacle”.
Prior to Kinnock’s revelation, Brown was telling parliament that the “crucible of terrorism” on the Afghan-Pakistan border remained the “No 1 security threat to the West”.