Increasing the level of UK assistance?
66. In the Secretary of State's view—
Our military training teams
and loan service personnel, and the courses which Arab soldiers,
sailors and airmen attend at UK training establishments, are obvious
manifestations of our commitment to enhancing the military capability
of the region. These contacts help to build bridges. But they
also enhance and make more credible the ability of the Gulf States
to deter would-be aggressors. This is a direct contribution to
regional stability, and one that I believe the British Armed Forces
are uniquely qualified to make.[141]
We agree that our Forces can make a significant contribution
to enhancing defence relations and were concerned that the UK
could be doing more in this respect. When we were in Kuwait, we
were told that the Kuwaitis would welcome assistance with expanding
their Staff College. We asked the Secretary of State about this—
I think there is every prospect
that we can develop further training assistance for Kuwait and
it is something that we are actively pursuing.[142]
67. We also raised with the Secretary of State concerns
which had been expressed to us that the UK was losing out in opportunities
to increase training and other assistance to Gulf countries because,
unlike the US and France, the UK charges for such services. His
view was—
... the kind of training
we provide is of the very best quality. That is very well recognised
and people are willing to pay for it. I accept that there is competition
both for equipment and for training and we will have to look carefully
to ensure that we maintain the right kinds of relationships. Certainly
the training experience that a number of people have had in the
United Kingdom does mean that they remain lifelong friends of
the United Kingdom very often and I would be very reluctant to
see that benefit lost because, for example, we were not able to
attract people because of the costs of training. I have to say
for the moment that is not the case, we have no shortage of people
coming for training. Whilst there is competition around on price
I still remain absolutely confident that what people are getting
from training in the United Kingdom cannot easily be duplicated
anywhere else. I think you will find that most other people recognise
that fact.[143]
We believe it would be regrettable if the UK was
to lose influence because of the MoD's policy of charging for
assistance which other countries are prepared to offer free, or
at a lower cost. We agree that the UK provides very high quality
training but the MoD cannot rely on this to convince overseas
governments to send their personnel here rather than elsewhere,
or to seek UK assistance when it is more willingly offered by
other countries. We recommend that the MoD examine very carefully
the balance between the financial benefit it receives by charging
for military assistance and training and the less evident but
real benefits which might accrue from offering such services at
lower or no cost to those countries with whom it is in our interests
to retain good relations.
68. An important element of defence relations is
defence sales and there is undoubtedly a link between the commitment
countries are prepared to make in offering military assistance
to friendly nations and their ability to sell defence equipment
to those nations. The Secretary of State was reluctant to accept
that there was a direct correlation between the two[144]
but this probably reflects the rather ambivalent attitude the
UK has to defence sales, compared with our more up-front allies,
such as France and the US. The impression we gained during our
visit was that host countries have great respect for the UK's
approach in keeping military assistance separate from defence
sales and it is obvious that there is a delicate line to tread
here. Decisions about defence procurement, in the Gulf countries
as elsewhere, are frequently political decisions. The MoD should
be prepared, on occasions, to be more direct in linking the promotion
of UK equipment to military assistance. Otherwise it risks the
UK defence industry being disadvantaged to the benefit of our
less coy allies and competitors.
69. Our visit provided us with an opportunity to
meet the Chief of the General Staff in Saudi Arabia; the Crown
Prince, the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Defence and Foreign
Affairs in Bahrain; and the Foreign and Defence Ministers and
the Chief of Staff in Kuwait. These meetings provided us with
an opportunity to discuss a wide range of defence and foreign
policy issues and to hear the views of the host countries on their
relations with Iraq and their other neighbours. In addition we
visited the consultative Shura councils in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain
and the National Assembly in Kuwait and had valuable discussions
with our fellow parliamentarians on their work and how this might
develop in the future. We believe that contacts of this kind
are a vital part of the work of select committees and that through
visits of this kind we are able to make a significant contribution
to defence diplomacy.
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