§ 28. Mr. Warrenasked the Minister of State for Defence what was the total value of United States manufactured defence equipment imported by Her Majesty's Government in the five financial years from 1965–66 to 1969–70.
§ Mr. LambtonExcluding British-made components, approximately £430 million.
§ Mr. WarrenDoes my hon. Friend agree that those startlingly large sums show the way in which the previous Government built up their dependence on America for our defence capability? This is a strategic situation which I hope my hon. Friend will seek to remedy.
§ Mr. LambtonI think that we must always take into consideration the especial needs of the Services at the time.
§ Mr. John MorrisIn view of his hon. Friend's remarks, does the Minister believe that our dependence will be any less in the future than it has been in previous years? Will he impress upon the Americans the need to remove difficulties in the way of our exporting British equipment, instead of the 50 per cent. tariff which they have? In any discussions between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his right hon. Friend, will the hon. Gentleman point out the differences in the quality of expenditure? They pay for basic services here, and we pay for the development of their technology.
§ Mr. LambtonI do not know quite what the question is, but I shall take notice of parts of it. We spent considerable sums of money on, for instance, the F111 which never resulted in anything at all being produced.