Diplomatic Service: Burns Night

(asked on 8th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps British embassies and consulates are taking to promote Scotland through Burns Night celebrations in their place of location.


Answered by
Amanda Milling Portrait
Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This question was answered on 13th December 2021

The United Kingdom's diplomatic and trade network overseas promotes the interests and diversity of the whole of the UK to other countries. This includes, but is not limited to, promoting Scotland at events hosted to mark St Andrew's Day and Burns Night.

We do not hold a central log of all such events hosted across the world. In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many UK missions overseas promoted Burns Night and Scotland virtually through social media.

In 2022, like every year, our diplomatic network will be encouraged to use Burns Night and St Andrew's Day to promote Scottish culture, tourism, produce and trade and investment.

In addition to Burns Night and St Andrew's Day events, our overseas network continuously looks to promote Scotland and Scottish interests overseas throughout the year. In October, the Foreign Secretary and Lord Offord used their visit to India, the UK's second biggest investor, to promote Scottish engineering, business and exports, including whisky. UK missions overseas also used Glasgow's hosting of COP26 to increase Scotland's international profile.

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