Diplomatic Missions: Unpaid Charges

Lord Callanan Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

My Lords, I am always grateful to my noble friend for his wit and the charm with which he brings his points to this Chamber. I will leave the finer points of the arrangements for the visit of President Trump to the relevant officials in the Foreign Office.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, I think there is unity across the House on this one. We are all amused by the prospect of some poor parking warden having to put a ticket on President Trump’s limousine and what might happen to him following the actions of the Secret Service. The conduct of diplomatic staff is a reflection of important values: respect, dignity and mutual recognition between nations. Following on from the reply the Minister gave to the Liberal Democrats, will she consider linking future privileges or engagement opportunities to the good standing of diplomatic missions in their civic responsibilities, so as to encourage greater accountability?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We keep these things under close consideration but, as the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, said when he addressed this issue during the very last Question of the last Parliament—his last appearance on this side of the House—our diplomats are the best in the world and we entrust them to raise these issues as appropriate. We are starting to see some, I admit small, contributions towards meeting this debt and I think that is the right approach for now.