Consulates fear axe after UK cuts

BRITISH consulates in France will feel the squeeze as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been asked to make swingeing spending cuts.

The future of the network of five offices is as yet unknown, though the FCO has admitted it may close down some posts.

It will also be making “increased use of outsourcing”, the ministry adds. The use of a private firm for passport advice, on a premium line, has been one controversial example of this policy.

The spending review also includes tougher rules on claiming incapacity benefit, and sets earlier-than-expected dates for rises in the UK state pension age.

A compensation package for those who lost out in the Equitable Life near-collapse has been denounced by pensioners’ campaigners as “inadequate and unfair”.