FCO to change advice policy

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is reportedly ready to reduce the number of warnings for travellers heading to countries where terrorism is seen as a threat. Following a review by the FCO, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told Parliament that advice against travel to specific countries would only be issued when there was “specific evidence of extreme and imminent danger”. As reported, the issue of travel advice has become increasingly controversial following bombings in Bali, Morocco, Kenya and Madrid, with vastly-different advice given for Spain and Indonesia, for example. The Daily Telegraph reports Straw as saying: “Our travel advice must inform people of the threat from terrorism. And, when the threat is acute, it will inevitably lead to some disruption. But, at the same time, we must make sure we do not do the terrorists’ job by causing too much of the very disruption that they want.” The Guardian points out that the change could be politically dangerous for the FCO, “exposing it to strong criticism if there is a terrorist attack and it is seen to have failed to give the public a general warning”. The new advice arrangements are likely to be in place before the summer tourist season, The Guardian reports. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad