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Missile Defence

Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assessment he has made of the threat of attack on the Menwith Hill radomes that would result from UK participation in the proposed US Missile Defence system; [3380]

Mr. Hoon: The US has stated that it has not yet decided how it will seek to proceed with deployment of a missile defence system and has made no request for the use of either RAF Menwith Hill or RAF Fylingdales for missile defence purposes. We have made clear we would consider any such request carefully in light of the circumstances at the time and taking into account all relevant factors, including security implications.

Porton Down

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the report produced by the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down, in 1989 entitled, "The effect of Sarin (GB) on Contrast Sensitivity". [3400]

Dr. Moonie: No. The report to which the hon. Member refers was drafted but not completed. It is therefore unsuitable for publication.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if service personnel who took part in experiments at the Chemical Defence Establishment, Porton Down, are entitled to receive a copy of films recorded by the establishment of the experiment in which they participated. [3403]

Dr. Moonie: Not all trials undertaken as part of the service volunteer programme were filmed, nor are the films catalogued in a manner which would assist the identification of volunteers. Porton Down volunteers are

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entitled to receive a copy of any film footage in which they alone are clearly identifiable. However, under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 footage which identified other volunteers could not be released. Requests for film footage will be dealt with on an individual basis.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer on 2 July 2001, Official Report, column 2W, on Porton Down, what the purpose was of the study involving RAF service volunteers at RAF Honington in 2000; what the conclusion of the study was; on what dates it was conducted; and for what reason it was conducted at RAF Honington. [3409]

Dr. Moonie: During August 2000 a study involving RAF volunteers took place on the Rapier Detachment Engagement Trainer at RAF Honington. The aim of the study was to assess the possible effects of miosis and ciliary spasm of the eye, from simulated exposure to low dose nerve agent, on the ability to operate the Ground Based Air Defence System Rapier.

The study concluded that both miosis and ciliary spasm of the eye has profound effects on any military task involving target detection and/or identification under low illumination conditions.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer on 28 June 2001, Official Report, column 133W, on Porton Down, if he will place in the Library copies of the minutes, agenda and papers of the meeting between his Department's staff and the Medical Research Council staff on 30 May. [3402]

Dr. Moonie: No. No agenda or formal notes of the meeting were produced.

Bermuda Regiment

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what amendments to the Queen's regulations and rules relating to disciplinary matters apply to members of the Bermuda Regiment. [2499]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 11 July 2001]: The Bermuda Regiment is not part of the British Army, therefore The Queen's Regulations for the Army do not have any authority over this Regiment.

Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which units of the armed forces are largely recruited from an overseas territory, and whose funding and command and control structure are comparable to that of the Bermuda Regiment. [2505]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 11 July 2001]: None. The Bermuda Regiment is not part of the British Army.

HMS Daedalus

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the future of HMS Daedalus. [3636]

Dr. Moonie: It is expected that a decision on the future of HMS Daedalus will be made within the next few weeks. At that stage I will write to the hon. Member and all other MPs and stakeholders to inform them of the way forward.

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Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from outside bodies about the future of HMS Daedalus. [3635]

Dr. Moonie: Many representations have been received from a wide range of statutory and commercial outside bodies and local interest groups, including those tenants currently residing on the airfield. Much of the commercial interest was generated through our agent's marketing campaign and subsequent referrals.

Defence Estate, through the Daedalus Working Group, has always endeavoured to keep Gosport borough council, Fareham borough council and Hampshire county council informed of developments.

MOD Sites

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria are used to determine which MOD sites not used by the armed forces should be sold. [3637]

Dr. Moonie: It is our policy that the Defence Estate should be no larger than necessary to meet the operational and training needs of the armed forces. To this end, the overall size of the estate is kept under continual review, and rationalisation of our landholdings and the early sale of surplus property remains a key priority. Normally, surplus sites are identified through estate rationalisation studies, as a result of changing operational requirements or from changes in policy. Before a site is offered for sale steps are taken to ensure there is no alternative defence use.

In the future, the rationalisation of the estate will be shaped by the emerging 'core sites' approach which is currently being developed as part of our Estate Strategy ("In Trust and On Trust: A strategy for the Defence Estate") which was launched on 7 June 2000. It is the intention that 'core sites' will become the focus for future development and investment.

Cyprus

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the applicability of (a) the European Court of Human Rights and (b) the Human Rights Act 1998 to sovereign base areas in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement. [R] [2976]

Mr. Ingram: I will write to my hon. Friend and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Palestine

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the UK Government have contributed to the food aid provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to Palestinians in and around the Israeli-occupied parts of the West Bank and Gaza. [3235]

Clare Short: We have contributed £10 million to UNRWA's Emergency Appeals in response to the growing social and economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the current conflict. Our funds are not

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specifically earmarked for food; UNRWA's emergency operations also include employment generation, and other urgent social welfare provisions.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Diplomatic Car Licences

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the diplomatic car licence plate numbers allocated to embassies and high commissions in the United Kingdom used to identify the country. [1683]

Mr. Straw: I am unable to release the information requested into the public domain as this could compromise the security of diplomatic missions and their personnel in the United Kingdom.

United Nations Security Council

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions in the last five years in which the United Kingdom's veto power in the United Nations Security Council has been (a) used and (b) threatened publicly to be used; and what the subject matter was on each occasion. [2708]

Peter Hain: This Government have not used the veto since coming to power in May 1997. However the United Kingdom has used the veto 30 times since 1946, with regard to the following issues:



It is not Government practice publicly to threaten the use of the veto.

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