UK: The official yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland > 2003

Government and foreign affairs
7 International relations
New citizenship provisions under the British
Overseas Territories Act 2002 came into effect on
21 May 2002. From that date all existing OT
citizens (with the exception of those deriving their
citizenship from a connection with the British
Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus) automatically
became British citizens with the right of abode in
the UK.2
An OT Department within the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office (FCO - see below)
provides a single focus and direct point of contact
with the UK Government, although Gibraltar,
because of its EU status, is dealt with primarily by
the FCO’s European Departments. The
Department for International Development
(DFID - see page 71) also has an OT Department,
which administers development assistance to
Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat,
the Turks and Caicos Islands, St Helena (and
Tristan da Cunha) and Pitcairn. An OT
Consultative Council, comprising the Chief
Minister or equivalent from each territory and
British ministers (and chaired by the relevant FCO
minister), convenes annual meetings in
September.
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are the subject of a territorial
claim by Argentina. The UK Government does not
accept the Argentine claim and is committed to
defending the Islanders’ right to live under a
government of their own choice. This right of self-
determination is enshrined in the United Nations
Charter and is embodied in the 1985 Falkland
Islands Constitution. Nevertheless, the UK and
Argentina maintain good bilateral relations and
co-operate on practical issues of common interest
affecting the South Atlantic, such as conservation
of fish stocks and surveying of the continental
shelf.
Gibraltar
Having been captured by British-Dutch forces in
1704, Gibraltar was ceded by Spain to Britain in
perpetuity under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.
However, Spain has long sought its return. The
UK stands by its commitment, set out in the
preamble to the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution, that
it will not enter into arrangements under which
the people of Gibraltar would pass under the
2 Many British Overseas Territories citizens from Gibraltar and the
Falkland Islands already possessed British citizenship under
previous legislation applying to those Territories.
sovereignty of another state against their freely
and democratically expressed wishes.
Gibraltar has an elected House of Assembly, and
responsibility for a range of ‘defined domestic
matters’ is devolved to elected local ministers. The
Territory is within the EU, as part of the United
Kingdom Member State, although it is outside the
common customs system and does not participate
in the Common Agricultural or Fisheries Policies
or the EU’s value added tax arrangements. The
people of Gibraltar have been declared UK
nationals for EU purposes.
Administration of foreign policy
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
The FCO is in charge of foreign policy. It is
headed by the Foreign and Commonwealth
Secretary, who is responsible for the work of the
department and the Diplomatic Service (see page
50). Diplomatic, consular and commercial
relations are maintained with about 190 countries,
and the UK has over 230 diplomatic posts
worldwide. British diplomatic missions also
employ nearly 8,000 locally engaged staff. Staff
overseas deal with political, commercial and
economic work; entry clearance to the UK and
consular work; aid administration; and
information and other activities, such as culture,
science and technology.
The FCO’s executive agency, Wiston House
Conference Centre in West Sussex, contributes to
the solution of international problems by
organising conferences in the UK, attended by
politicians, business people, academics and other
professionals from all over the world.
An important function of the FCO is to promote
understanding of British foreign policies and to
project an up-to-date image of the UK worldwide,
beyond the sphere of government-to-government
diplomacy. Key elements of FCO-funded public
diplomacy work include:
■ publications, television and radio
programmes, and the FCO and Planet Britain
websites (www.fco.gov.uk and www.planet-
britain.org);
■ scholarship schemes for overseas students
(see page 121) and programmes for
influential foreign visitors;
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