HC Deb 07 May 1969 vol 783 cc444-5
28. Mr. Hastings

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the naval and air bases now used by British forces in the Mediterranean; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Healey

The bases mainly used are in Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus. I refer the hon. Member to recent statements on the Defence Estimates for fuller information.

Mr. Hastings

Will the right hon. Gentleman list those former British bases and facilities, both naval and air, used by the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean area? Would it not include Alexandria, Port Said, Luxor, Salum, Mersa Matruh, Aswan, Cairo West and Habbannya, for a start? Has not our withdrawal from that area benefited no one and nothing so much as Russian imperial ambitions?

Mr. Healey

As the right hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Mr. Amery)—whom I see back on the Opposition Front Bench for the first time—will recall, it was the Conservative Government's responsibility that the bases in Egypt and the surrounding area were abandoned by the British Government at the time. But the fact is that they have not been taken over as bases by the Soviet Union.