| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Dobson: The hon. Gentleman asks a perfectly sensible question. The CJD surveillance unit in Edinburgh is carrying out minute examinations of the medical history of all the 31 people who have died--the 31st was announced today. One person--the one from Torbay--had an appendix removed prior to developing any symptoms of new variant CJD as it was understood at the time. Prions that could be related to new variant CJD were identified in material from that appendix, which, in line with the practice of every hospital, was preserved for precisely such survey purposes.
Mr. Paul Tyler (North Cornwall): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It may not have been drawn your attention that the detailed, important and complicated answer given by the Secretary of State for Health this afternoon--which we all welcome--was made available in its full text to the media but not to Front-Bench or Back-Bench Members. It is extremely difficult for hon. Members to deal with such a statement in those circumstances.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst): Madam Speaker has on a number of occasions pointed out that it is helpful if hon. Members have the fullest information as early as possible. I understand that there was a particularly difficult situation in the Department of Health this afternoon, which may have contributed to the problem.
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Frank Dobson): Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. My understanding of custom and practice is that when Ministers make a statement, that statement is made available, but when they are responding to a private notice question, the text is not usually made available to hon. Members. I have no reason to deny any of the information to anyone. I shall obviously have to consult the business managers on whether any changes should be made in the practice that we inherited from the previous Government, which they, no doubt, inherited from the Government before them. It has always been customary to make the information available to the press.
Mr. Edward Leigh (Gainsborough): Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Will it now be a convention that answers to questions are given to the Press Gallery before they are given to hon. Members?
Mr. Deputy Speaker: I am sure that the Secretary of State and, indeed, the Leader of the House will have heard those exchanges. I should tell hon. Members that I did not have a copy of the answer either.
Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I have been a Member of this House for 36 years and it is painful to express unhappiness at the judgment of someone who has been a parliamentary colleague for a quarter of a century and a political friend for 30 years. We have had a statement on CJD, which I do not doubt is important, but a request was also made for an urgent response to yesterday's meeting of the emergency committee of the United Nations. That meeting could lead to the bombing of infrastructure, which is a matter of enormous urgency.
Will you convey to the Speaker our absolute dismay? Before bombs rain down on Iraqi infrastructure, the House of Commons should at least have the opportunity
to pursue the facts. I had better not try to camouflage the fact that this is a criticism of the Speaker. It comes from the third most senior Member--
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. As the hon. Gentleman said, he has been a Member of this House for a long time, but I am obliged to refer him to "Erskine May",which states:
"Neither the submission of a private notice question nor its subsequent rejection by the Speaker should . . . be publicly referred to."
That must be an end to the matter.
The Royal Navy
[Relevant documents: The Eighth Report from the Defence Committee of Session 1997-98, on the Strategic Defence Review (HC 138-I).]
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Allen.]
4.54 pm
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Doug Henderson): It is a great privilege to open this debate on the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the first on the subject since February 1996. I begin by paying tribute to the impressive qualities of those who serve in the those forces. I have seen those qualities at naval establishments across the United Kingdom, from the Clyde submarine base in the north to Plymouth and Poole in the south, and on warships--I was on board HMS Westminster when she was undergoing operational sea training. I have seen the commitment to duty, to the proud traditions of the service and to the central role that our naval forces play in safeguarding the freedoms that we all enjoy.
As I have visited ships and bases around the country, I have been struck by the professionalism, dedication, enthusiasm and team spirit of everyone whom I have met. Those qualities are at the core of the success of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines. They are embodied in an ethos on which the foundations of our naval service depend.
Royal Navy ships continue to be widely deployed around the world in support of our defence missions and tasks. On an average day, up to 60 per cent. of ships are on operations away from their base port. Their contribution is immense, ranging from the maintenance of the continuous at-sea deterrent patrol and our contribution to the NATO standing naval forces to fishery protection.
In the past year, the Navy and the Marines have been ready to assist in the evacuation of British citizens from countries where their lives may have been at risk--Sierra Leone, Albania, Indonesia and the Congo. Naval forces have assisted in counter-drugs operations, both in the United Kingdom and overseas. The fact that that commitment is now included as a military task is a reflection of the high priority that the Government attach to the fight against illegal drugs trafficking.
The Royal Navy is also involved in ensuring the security of our overseas territories. The programming of ships to the Atlantic patrol task will result in greater flexibility but will not be detrimental to a visible presence, when it is required, in the south Atlantic, in the Caribbean or off west Africa. Operations in the Caribbean are primarily focused on counter-drugs operations but they also enable the Navy to respond to natural disasters during the hurricane season. The House will be aware that, in the past month, HMS Sheffield has provided humanitarian relief in the West Indies following Hurricanes George and Mitch, which had such devastating effects in central American, especially in Honduras.
Our operational structures change as the situation changes. All our armed forces have recognised the importance of joint action, and I commend the Royal Navy for its forward-thinking and open-minded approach in the strategic defence review. It considered first and foremost how it could evolve to enhance its contribution to overall defence. It thought joint, not single
service. The new concept recognises the unpredictable nature of today's world and the importance of being able to respond quickly to a crisis with joint and rapidly deployable forces; it recognises the reach, self-sufficiency and independence from host nation support that characterise maritime forces.
The Navy has already established Joint Force 2000--which the House discussed in our debate two or three weeks ago--with colleagues in the Royal Air Force, and it will come into operation next year. Joint Force 2000 will build on the successful experience of joint Harrier operations at sea to enhance the power projection capability of the Invincible class carriers. The force will be part of RAF Strike Command, with a Royal Navy rear admiral at its head but an RAF air commodore in day-to-day charge.
In the longer term, we will build on the Joint Force 2000 experience when the future carrier-borne aircraft comes into service on the new carriers in 2012, in line with current planning. There are other examples of jointery: 3 Commando Brigade is already an inherently joint force with Army units permanently under Royal Marines command. Jointery will also be utilised beyond the front line in logistics and materiel support.
Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate):
The Minister told us that he was proud of the Navy's examination of how it could increase its contribution to defence through the strategic defence review. How can cutting three frigates and two nuclear attack submarines--SSNs--help to achieve that?
Mr. Henderson:
The hon. Gentleman knows the answer to that, because he sat through the strategic defence review debate, in which we considered our future defence needs. It was recognised that, as a choice had to be made, our priority was to be able to deploy frigates in a concentrated way, rather than having the ocean coverage that is provided by the existing 35 frigates.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |