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Forces in Europe (Deployment)
8. Mr. Booth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the extent of deployment of Her Majesty's forces in Europe.[26926]
Mr. Soames: British forces are currently deployed in Germany, Cyprus, Italy, Gibraltar, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and they make a significant contribution to the peace implementation force in Bosnia.
Mr. Booth: Will my hon. Friend congratulate our forces serving in IFOR? Does not the success of their deployment there show that the proposal to put them under the European Union command is not only unwanted, but unnecessary?
Mr. Soames: Yes, I agree with my hon. Friend. I join him in warmly congratulating the performance of the 10,500 British troops on the ground in Bosnia and the further 1,200 Royal Navy and Royal Air Force troops offshore and in Italy. They have performed outstandingly well and done great credit to this country. It is plain, when NATO had to go in, that it was the only organisation in Europe that could possibly have run such an operation because it has the command and control structures and the necessary equipment, kit and experience to undertake such an operation. It certainly would not be an operation for the Western European Union or for the European Union.
Dr. Reid: We welcome the decision to deploy four squadrons of Tornado from RAF Bruggen and its associated facilities. It is sensible on operational and financial grounds. We also welcome the reports at the weekend that the most fundamental strategic review of doctrine since the second world war is currently being carried out within the Ministry of Defence. We are glad that, despite the shouting from the Government Benches,
the Government are doing exactly what we suggested. We are happy on this occasion that they should keep shouting one thing and doing another. It will make it so much easier for the next Labour Government.
Mr. Soames: I thought for a second that the hon. Gentleman was talking about the Labour party's policy on homosexuals, but clearly not. I must disabuse the hon. Gentleman of one illusion. There is nothing fundamental about the review. It is a drawing together of strategic doctrine to reflect the new joint operational structure of the Ministry of Defence, the establishment of the new permanent joint headquarters and the creation of the joint rapid deployment force, all of which I know will have passed the hon. Gentleman by.
There is nothing secret about it. Consultation will take place not only within the Ministry of Defence and across all three services, but with academics and many others. That is a serious and sensible response to a strategic doctrine which the country has been putting into practice for a long time; but, following the creation of the joint rapid deployment force and the permanent joint headquarters, the elements of that response need to be drawn together.
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for what he said about Bruggen. We believe that we are taking a sensible step. Although I regret the fact that there will no longer be an RAF presence in Germany after a long and glorious history, there is no doubt that that is right not only for all the people concerned, but for the aircraft.
Mr. Wilkinson:
I, too, greatly welcome the Government's decision to bring the RAF back from Germany: following the disbanding of the Warsaw pact, it makes evident sense. May I, however, urge the Government to bring the squadrons back from Laarbruch before 1999 and from Bruggen before 2002? It would make sense to have aircraft flying from RAF Honington again, and to have RAF Scampton open again, thus providing jobs for British people.
Mr. Soames:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, and acknowledge his expertise. He will appreciate that we have consulted our allies closely, and have assured them that our commitment to NATO remains unaffected. The four Tornado GR1 squadrons will be returned to existing United Kingdom bases.
I note what my hon. Friend said about Honington and Scampton, and I have no doubt that we shall consider carefully what to do. As a matter of fact, we believe that the redeployment of the aircraft in the United Kingdom will potentially increase their operational effectiveness. We hope that we shall soon be able to announce where they will be based, but I shall certainly bear in mind what my hon. Friend has said.
9. Mrs. Fyfe:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Trident missiles are to be ordered in each year from 1997 under present orders; and what will be the total number bought when all orders are acquired.[26927]
Mr. Arbuthnot:
So far, the UK has purchased 44 Trident missiles from the United States. No UK missiles are on order, but remaining orders are likely to be placed within the next three years in line with the UK's
Mrs. Fyfe:
Has the Minister noted that, according to the United States strategic command report to Congress, the number of missiles on order from the United Kingdom will be seven in 1997, seven in the following year and seven in the year after that--a total of 21, in addition to the existing 44? Can the Minister tell us the reason for that huge escalation?
Mr. Arbuthnot:
The figures that have emerged in the United States amount to no more than the assessment of our current financial plans. We have not made a final decision on the figures, but they reflect our current plans, and they do not represent an escalation in relation to our Polaris firepower.
Mr. Brazier:
Will my hon. Friend confirm that nuclear threats in the world, potential and actual, are expanding, despite the fall of the Berlin wall? Two, or possibly three, ex-Soviet countries still have nuclear weapons, and nuclear technology is proliferating in the middle east. Is it not essential that we in the Conservative party are seen to uphold Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent?
Mr. Arbuthnot:
Yes. As is so often the case, my hon. Friend has made a valid point. The Labour party aspires to power, but many Labour Members would like Trident to be abolished. We are faced with questions on Trident with which we would not be faced if Labour had won the last general election, or the one before that, or the one before that--because we would not have a nuclear missile at all.
10. Mr. Riddick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the educational advantages that membership of the cadet forces gives to its members.[26928]
Mr. Soames:
My colleagues and I are very much aware of the splendid benefit that the cadet force organisations can bring to the education and well being of young people in this country. It is important that parents and teachers alike recognise the wonderful opportunities that membership brings to the broad education of the young.
Mr. Riddick:
Is my hon. Friend aware that there are active squadrons of the air training corps in Holmfirth and Huddersfield in my constituency and that they both play a valuable role in local community service? Does he agree that the education of those youngsters should include the facts about the Labour party's natural aspirations to cut defence spending by billions of pounds, so that the country's young people are aware that the nation's defences would not be safe under a Labour Government?
Mr. Soames:
My hon. Friend is completely right, of course. I join him in paying tribute to the air training corps in Huddersfield, which on average parades 60 cadets, and in Holmfirth, which on average parades 30 cadets. They have an exceptional record in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and an excellent commitment to
Ms Walley:
Will the Minister also pay tribute to the air training corps in my constituency? Does he share my concern, having read page 11 of today's edition of The Daily Telegraph, that the future of RAF flying teachers might be in jeopardy? Where will that leave the ATC? The Government have cut costs so much that they have effectively done away with the RAF flying instructors on which the ATC depends.
Mr. Soames:
I certainly pay tribute to the air training corps in the hon. Lady's constituency. I am sure that there, as in all hon. Members' constituencies, it does a marvellous job and stands as a beacon in the communities in which it serves. On flying training, the hon. Lady, not for the first time, has got the wrong end of the stick. I can assure her without any diffidence that the air cadets will get all the flying to which they are entitled. Indeed, it is the MoD's aspiration to provide more and not less flying.
11. Mr. Quentin Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what joint and combined exercises are planned in the near future.[26929]
Mr. Soames:
Exercise Purple Star, the largest joint and combined operation for a number of years, involving about 12,000 UK forces, began at the end of last month and continues until 19 May. The House will be pleased to know that that combined UK-US exercise includes key elements of the planned joint rapid deployment force.
Mr. Davies:
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the Government's support for that very important exercise. May I express the hope that the Government will continue to attach a very high priority to the value of exercises in general, and to combined and joint exercises in particular since, as I am sure he would agree, they are essential to the maintenance of our military preparedness and therefore our capability?
Mr. Soames:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for highlighting one of the great difficulties facing modern defence management--the ability to provide the kind of high level, high intensity warfare training, which is so essential to keeping our troops prepared for the extraordinary range of operations that may be required of them. The key elements of the JRDF--the Third Commando Brigade and the Fifth Airborne Brigade--are taking part. It is a major exercise and I assure my hon. Friend that we shall do everything in our power, whether in America, in this country or in the new training areas that are opening up in Hungary and Poland where we hope to have a brigade exercise in September, to ensure that as many of our troops as possible receive the benefit of those very important exercises. We seriously acknowledge the point he makes; it is crucial.
Mr. Cohen:
Is it a joint exercise between the hon. Gentleman's Department and the Foreign Office to run
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