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Redundant Land
19. Paul Flynn (Newport, West) (Lab): What recent assessment he has made of the scope for sale by the services of redundant land. [163791]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Ivor Caplin): The Ministry of Defence continually reviews the size and location of the sites on which it operates and disposes of any surplus assets as soon as practically possible. Indeed, in the past five years the Department has generated disposal receipts totalling about £1 billion. Further work is now under way to examine the scope for consolidating defence activity at a smaller number of more densely utilised locations, in order to achieve the optimum use of land and facilities. No decisions have been reached and each proposal emerging from this work will be subject to full consultation.
Paul Flynn : The Norwegian defence department is on a standstill budget and intends to expand its valuable work in peacekeeping and providing winter training facilities for many forces, including our own, by getting rid of a third of the land it occupies. That will provide a huge sum and put the land to more useful and profitable purposes. No Government Member would want to support the totally irresponsible policy of the Conservatives to have a standstill defence budget, but could we not emulate the Norwegians by finding some land that could be sold for the benefit of the environment and other services that require extra financing?
Mr. Caplin: I can assure my hon. Friend that we take our commitment to the environment very seriously indeed. I certainly recognise the points that he makes in respect of land sales and I will take them into account as we consider the review that is under way.
Eurofighter
20. Chris Grayling (Epsom and Ewell) (Con): If he will make a statement on the number of Eurofighters the RAF will purchase. [163792]
The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram): The United Kingdom remains committed to the Typhoon programme. Fifty-five aircraft are being delivered to the RAF under the tranche one contract. We are in the process of negotiating with partner
nations and industry a sound contractual basis for the second tranche of 89 aircraft. I hope that we will be in a position to place an order as soon as possible.
Chris Grayling : The Minister will be aware of anxieties within the RAF that, during a period of pressure and busyness for the armed forces, it will be the service to bear the brunt of any future cuts. Can the Minister give an assurance that the Typhoon Eurofighter programme is sacrosanct and that the number of aircraft eventually ordered and delivered will be the originally envisaged total?
Mr. Ingram: We are firmly committed to that. Negotiations have been proceeding with such intensity—to get the capability into service as soon as possible, and to ensure that we secure the right price. Tough negotiations are going on with the providers of the aircraft. I do not believe that the hon. Gentleman would expect anything different from the Government on that.
Kosovo
21. Mr. John Randall (Uxbridge) (Con): If he will make a statement on the current situation in Kosovo. [163793]
The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Geoffrey Hoon): The situation in Kosovo is relatively stable after the violent outbreaks of last week. The UK fully supports NATO's response to the situation and calls on all parties to reject violence as we continue to build a peaceful, stable Kosovo.
Mr. Randall : I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. Has he had any more intelligence about, or an assessment of, whether the violence instigated by the Albanians was spontaneous or co-ordinated beforehand?
Mr. Hoon: As I indicated to the House on Thursday in the defence debate, there is no specific evidence that the violence was co-ordinated or planned, but it suggests underlying tension between the two communities. Certainly, some organisations were ready and willing to take advantage of the tension, and that is something that we deprecate. It is important that we continue to take effective action against those organisations that would seek to undermine our efforts to promote constitutional and political settlement in Kosovo.
European Council/Libya
3.30 pm
The Prime Minister (Mr. Tony Blair): With permission, Mr. Speaker, I shall make a statement about the European Council that I attended in Brussels on 25 and 26 March. I wish to pay tribute to the excellent organisation and chairmanship of the Irish presidency and of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in particular.
We met in the aftermath of the bomb attacks in Spain. We expressed our sympathy and solidarity with the Government and people of Spain. Co-operation in the fight against terrorism in Europe was stepped up after 11 September 2001 with the establishment of joint investigation teams, the freezing of terrorists' assets, the establishment of the European arrest warrant and a number of measures of co-operation with the United States and other countries. However, we recognised that not nearly enough had been done, especially on implementation of agreements, the provision of information to Europol and co-operation with third countries.
At this European Council we set deadlines for the implementation of EU measures. We set out further measures on counter-terrorist legislation in all member states: confiscation of crime-related proceeds, creating a comprehensive database of forensic material, strengthening border controls, better intelligence sharing, transport security, and a number of other matters that are listed in the text that we adopted at the Council. We have appointed a single person to co-ordinate the Union's work in that area and are establishing a new counter-terrorism intelligence assessment cell so that, combined with effective police co-operation through Europol and co-operation among prosecuting authorities via Eurojust, we will have the means of assessing intelligence.
I also briefed my colleagues in the European Council on my visit earlier on 25 March to Libya. I made clear to Colonel Gaddafi our support for Libya's decision to abandon voluntarily its weapons of mass destruction programmes, and our welcome for the full and transparent co-operation that Libya has subsequently given. Libya's actions in the past have caused grief and pain to many individuals and families, which we cannot forget. I raised the matters of Lockerbie and WPC Fletcher with Colonel Gaddafi, stressing the importance of the forthcoming visit to Libya by the Metropolitan police team investigating WPC Fletcher's murder. We shall stay in close touch with the families in both cases. If change in Libya is real, we should support it. It is the beginning of a process, and we should take it step by step, but I believe that a Libya free of weapons of mass destruction and with no links to terrorism is overwhelmingly in our interest and that it is right to pursue that dialogue and we will.
What has happened over the past few weeks has reinforced the determination of all member Governments to equip a Union of 25 member states to be able to operate efficiently and effectively. As hon. Members will see from the conclusions, the Council took substantive decisions on growth, employment, research and development and on how to equip our citizens with the education, training and access to lifelong learning that are vital if Europe is to maintain
its competitive edge. It is already clear that in a Europe of 25, and then of 28, decision making cannot remain as it is. The result would be paralysis of Europe and an inability to make progress in vital areas of co-operation that are emphatically in the British national interest. We need to be better able to set priorities, pass simpler laws, and have a completely different system for the day-to-day running of the European Union. That includes Governments setting the strategic direction in the European Council with a full-time chairman of the Council, chosen by Governments, to take forward that programme.In almost every field job creation, sustainable development, the environment, the fight against terrorism, illegal immigration and organised crime we need to work together as one in the European Union. That is what the constitutional treaty is about and we shall seek to negotiate it to a successful conclusion under the Irish presidency. Britain will ensure that we keep control over our tax and social security systems, over the future of the UK abatement, over our own criminal justice system and over defence and foreign policy, as we said we would. Provided we do so, this treaty is right for Europe and right for Britain because, in today's world, particularly after the events of recent months, Europe needs to work more effectively to protect and enhance the lives of its people.
The European Council gave its continued strong support to the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General to bring about a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem. This is a historic opportunity to end the long division of the island and we urge all the parties to seize it.
The European Council also welcomed the recent positive political developments in Iraq and the UN Secretary-General's acceptance of the Iraqi governing council's invitation to help. It condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Iraq, which had as their aim maximising the number of civilian casualties. The European Council also expressed grave concern over the situation in the middle east.
The European Council strongly condemned the recent ethnically motivated violence in Kosovo. All leaders locally must now take responsibility for the situation to ensure that there is no repetition.
By negotiating within the European Union, we have succeeded in establishing common policies to deal with terrorism, crime and illegal immigration. We are taking forward a programme of economic reform long overdue. We have a common European stance to deal with the challenge of climate change. Last year, in the context of the World Trade Organisation negotiations, we achieved the biggest ever reform of the common agricultural policy not enough, but a substantial step forward. We are developing a common foreign and security policy to tackle the common global threats that we face. Our security, stability and prosperity depend on our successful membership of the European Union. Under this Government, it will not be put at risk.
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