Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether there are any restrictions on the business activities that can be carried out by foreign diplomats based in the UK.

Mr Philip Hammond

Article 42 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations (VCDR) states that ‘a diplomatic agent shall not in the receiving State practise for personal profit any professional or commercial activity’. The UK expects foreign diplomats to abide by the Articles of the VCDR.