§ 31. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Secretary of State for Defence what are his plans for the future of the South Atlantic Station.
§ Mr. HealeyI have nothing to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Haltemprice (Mr. Wall) on 9th November.—[Vol. 735, c. 288.]
§ Mr. DigbyIf the right hon. Gentleman has in mind withdrawal of the Commander-in-Chief, as, I believe, he said in answer to an earlier supplementary question, is he aware that he is taking a very serious step and that there is a very long distance between the full dockyard facilities at Gibraltar and those at Singapore and that once the Commander-in-Chief leaves, we cannot be sure for very long of the facilities at Simonstown.
§ Mr. HealeyI made it clear to another hon. and gallant Member earlier this afternoon that all these matters are at present under discussion with the South African Government and that a high-level mission is leaving on Friday to continue the discussion. All these considerations were, however, borne in mind before the Government took their decision, which we have no reason now to change.