§ 31. Mr. Healeyasked the Minister of Defence what is the total expenditure of Her Majesty's Government on creating a military base in Kenya over the last five years.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftA little over £5½ million.
§ Mr. HealeyCan the right hon. Gentleman explain how it is possible, when there is supposed to be a Cabinet sitting on this country, that Her Majesty's Government should have decided to spend an amount of this magnitude on a base in Kenya at a time when they had already decided to transfer power in Kenya to African politicians who were known to want to discontinue the base as soon as they had independence?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftWhat the programme of expansion was planned, it was not unreasonable to assume that the base would be available for many years. If it were possible to foresee the future for many years, a great many financial positions, in public and private life, would be very different.
§ Mr. P. WilliamsMay I ask my right hon. Friend for some information? How much of this money was spent in Kenya and how much to the advantage of the Kenya economy?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI could not answer that without notice, but I will try to give my hon. Friend that information.