| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Hoon: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. As he rose, I wondered what question he might ask. He has asked me about the projects on many previous occasions and I am delighted to be able to give him today, at long last, a straight and detailed answer. I am also grateful to him for volunteering his constituency: I am confident that it will be one of the places in which a significant number of additional British jobs are created as a result of the decisions announced today.
I made clear our determination to place a firm order for 25 aircraft, but I am confident that the aircraft will be a success around the world. Airbus Military is confident, not only that it will be able to supply aircraft to our partner nations, but that there is significant potential for exports to other countries not yet involved in the project.
Therefore, 25 is an initial order, but we are confident that it will lead to further orders and that the aircraft will be a success.
Mr. Menzies Campbell (North-East Fife): In order not to blight the Secretary of State's career, I shall not offer him over-enthusiastic congratulations on having beaten off the Treasury. I hope it will be sufficient for me to say that he has managed to square a rather difficult circle.
The announcements are welcome because they strengthen the European security and defence identity, of which common procurement is an important component, and they underpin the expeditionary strategy set out in the strategic defence review. May I express the hope that the Secretary of State will show similar ingenuity in placing the orders for the roll on/roll off ferries, which I hope will follow hard on the heels of today's announcements?
On the question of Meteor, the Secretary of State was diplomatic about exports being thwarted by the United States Congress. However, it must be a matter of some if not satisfaction, at least relief that there can be no question of exports of the Eurofighter being inhibited because Congress might decide that permission should not be given for an American missile for the aircraft.
On the question of the heavy-lift aircraft, it is right to provide the Royal Air Force with the heavy-lift capability which is clearly necessary and which would have been of great advantage, for example, in Mozambique and perhaps in current operations in Sierra Leone. Is it not true that, by demonstrating confidence in BAE Systems from a military standpoint, the announcement will ensure that the company remains at the forefront of civilian aircraft technology as well?
Mr. Hoon: I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman. I congratulate him on his determined efforts in pursuing these matters over many months; he has been assiduous in ensuring that they have remained at the forefront of the House's attention. I am grateful to him for his support on previous occasions and today.
These are the collective decisions of Government, and all parts of Government are equally enthusiastic about the position reached and announced today, as I am confident the United States will be. As I mentioned earlier, it provides significant opportunities for US industry, as well as European industry.
I congratulate the right hon. and learned Gentleman also on his sophistication in emphasising the importance of co-operation and collaboration in these projects. Europe is not in a position to invest country by country in the latest technology, particularly for such expensive projects. Inevitably, we must undertake them in collaboration with our European and American partners. These projects represent a significant commitment to such a collaborative approach.
Mr. Bruce George (Walsall, South): My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State can rightly be pleased with himself. He has seen off the greatest enemy of the Ministry of Defence over the past 60 years: Her Majesty's Treasury. That is more than the Opposition succeeded in doing very often when they were in office. Is my right hon. Friend aware that, judging from the glum Conservative faces, he has done the right thing?
Has my right hon. Friend informed his wife that she is not likely to attend any White House functions over the next six months? However, that is a price worth paying. When the Defence Committee considers procurement in the next few weeks, it will seek more information about why these decisions were made, but my right hon. Friend can be confident that he and his team have got the decision right--a European missile on a European aircraft, the best heavy-lift aircraft available, and four of them, which is more than I anticipated. We, like my right hon. Friend, will give careful consideration to the fact that we have moved a little towards the European dimension of security. It is right for us to say to Europe, "We are watching you, and you must deliver."
Mr. Hoon: Again, I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He has pursued the matter with determination on behalf of the Committee which he so effectively leads. I look forward to providing further detail, as required, in due course.
It would be wrong to characterise these determinations as between Europe and the United States. There will be a great deal of work on both sides of the Atlantic as a result of our efforts. Crucially--this will be the most important aspect, as far as the White House is concerned--we are demonstrating a real commitment to improving European capability. The availability of the most advanced missile for Eurofighter and the availability of heavy-lift aircraft mean that Europe's capabilities and its contribution to NATO will be significantly enhanced. That is the message that the White House will most want to hear.
Madam Speaker: Order. May I have brisk questions from hon. Members and brisk answers from the Minister? I have in mind the need to safeguard today's business--after all, two motions have been tabled by the Opposition, and time is getting on.
Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood): The Secretary of State has chosen the riskiest options technically, the costliest, and those with the greatest potential for slippage, as regards both the missile and the aircraft elements. Can he put the House straight? The A400M is not a heavy-lift aircraft. Will he also make it plain that the A400M could not have taken four Puma helicopters all the way to Mozambique? It does not have the volume or the payload. Unless he retains some C17s in the fleet, when the A400M comes into service the Royal Air Force will no longer have a genuine heavy-lift capacity of its own.
Mr. Hoon: As I am sure the hon. Gentleman will recognise when he gives the matter some thought, in operations of the kind undertaken in Mozambique, what matters is not simply the capacity of an aircraft. One must also have regard to the size of the airfield where particular aircraft may land, and the number of times that it may be necessary to fly an aircraft into and out of an airfield. Sometimes, as we found in practice, the very large aircraft to which the hon. Gentleman refers by implication cannot fly into the airfields, and if they do fly into a particular airfield, it is closed for a number of hours before the next aircraft can arrive. A balance must be struck between the size and physical capability of the aircraft in question, and the number of occasions on which it is necessary to fly in
aircraft--particularly if there is an urgent need to reinforce troops in the field, for example. The decisions are taken with such practical considerations in mind.
Dr. Doug Naysmith (Bristol, North-West): May I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement and its clear commitment to the Meteor project and the A400M? The Meteor project will create job opportunities in my constituency. More important, it will keep the United Kingdom and Europe in the high technology end of the crucial business that we are discussing.
The A400M will create and safeguard thousands of jobs not only in Bristol and the surrounding area, but throughout the country and elsewhere in Europe. The project is needed to safeguard essential expertise in this country. It is good for Bristol, Britain and Europe. Will we be able to order more than the 25 that my right hon. Friend mentioned today if negotiations with other countries suggest that that is necessary or even helpful?
Mr. Hoon: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his comments. I agree with his observations; I am confident that the aircraft will be successful and that, in time, we will be able to order further versions.
Mr. Edward Garnier (Harborough): Bearing in mind the answer that the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Wilkinson), if the A400M is not big enough to carry heavy artillery and armoured vehicles and the larger helicopters, how does the Ministry of Defence propose to deliver those weapons and vehicles to a theatre of operation?
Mr. Hoon: The premise of the hon. and learned Gentleman's careful lawyer's argument is not right. The A400M is big enough, but the numbers that are carried on specific occasions and the capability of particular airfields to deal with the size of the aircraft are important.
Barbara Follett (Stevenage): I welcome my right hon. Friend's announcement of awarding the Meteor contract to Matra BAE Dynamics, which, as he knows, is mainly based in my constituency of Stevenage. Does my right hon. Friend know that, in the 1980s, Stevenage suffered job losses which were the equivalent of five pit closures through the downsizing of the aerospace industry? Does he realise the boost that he has given to the town's confidence through an announcement that is good for Britain, Europe and--most important to me--for Stevenage?
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |