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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

My Lords, as a military man I stress and reinforce this important point: when considering the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s needs and resources, diplomacy and the activities of our diplomats should ever be playing a major part in our country’s overall strategy and national defence effort. The work of our high commissioners, ambassadors and defence and service attaches overseas has a major part to play in informing the Government, through the FCO or Ministry of Defence, of exactly what of significance and potential threat is happening or could happen in their respective areas. They thus contribute to the advice given to the Government and chiefs of staff as to what can, and perhaps should, be done to contain or counter it, if that is what is required. Diplomatic effort unaided—except, undoubtedly, for economic aid—will sometimes produce by far the best results. Sometimes it may need military support and muscle to increase its effectiveness. But whatever military force it is decided to deploy and use, the use of that force—even if it has temporarily become the major partner—will be of much less value, and even become counterproductive, unless there is also diplomatic effort in the wings to get allies and other interested parties on side to produce a more benign stability, healing the wounds after the military action is over. It is of the utmost importance that our foreign policy and defence policy are properly joined up as one entity, sometimes with the latter, defence, in the lead and supported by the former. We hope more often than not that it will be vice versa, with diplomacy in the driving seat. I hope that is appreciated when settling the FCO’s priorities and resources, particularly in vulnerable areas where conflict is never far distant. If our representatives abroad are starved of resources, reduced to a skeleton or sometimes removed all together because of financial stringency, diplomacy cannot make the contribution which I have mentioned and which is so important to the national effort. It is with that in mind that I am most distressed to hear that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has reduced, if not removed, its participation in the work and instruction at the Royal College of Defence Studies. That seems absolutely crazy if we are serious about bringing our foreign and defence policy ever closer together, able to work in harmony one with the other. Perhaps the Minister can reassure your Lordships' House on the general principle I mentioned and on this particular, rather negative, manifestation of what happens in practice, albeit I hope only temporarily.