§ 34. Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the cost of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Information Services; and how much of this is borne by the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. NuttingThe services to which my hon. Friend refers are not a separate body, but form part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Secretariat. Since N.A.T.O.'s budget is confidential, I am not able to give information about its provisions, without first obtaining the concurrence of the other member Governments.
§ Mr. JohnsonWill the Minister continue to do everything possible to make the work of this North Atlantic Treaty Organisation more widely known, as far too little is known about it?
§ Mr. NuttingYes, Sir.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanAs the Question asks the Minister to make this work more widely known, will the Minister also inquire into why the amount of money spent should be treated as confidential and why that should not be more widely known?
§ Mr. NuttingThe reason why it is confidential is, of course, that it is a defence organisation, but the United Kingdom military and civil contributions are put into the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence Estimates.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonOne follows why money on military expenditure must be confidential, but could not the hon. 997 Gentleman go into the question of the publication of the cost of non-Service, ordinary administrative costs and so on? It is possible for these international organisations to be extravagant. Surely people have a right to know about these non-military costs.
§ Mr. NuttingCertainly, I will further consider the right hon. Gentleman's point.