HC Deb 22 July 1981 vol 9 cc311-2
9. Mr. Brocklebank-Fowler

asked the Lord Privy Seal, pursuant to the reply of the Under-Secretary given to the hon. Member for Norfolk, North-West on 2 July, what further consideration he has given to the request by the Ugandan Government for British military assistance.

Mr. Luce

A military appraisal of the training requirements of the Ugandan Army has now been completed. This is being studied, and the implications of assistance from the United Kingdom are being assessed.

Mr. Brocklebank-Fowler

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that reply. May I urge him to proceed with great caution, bearing in mind the controversial election result in Uganda and the need to ensure that British military assistance does not go to any Government who do not have the full-hearted support of their people.

Mr. Luce

I assure the hon. Gentleman that we shall procced with caution; but, as one who knows that part of the world very well, I am sure that he will agree that after a decade of tyranny and anarchy in that country, our primary consideration, with other friends of Uganda, must be to do what we can, in however modest a fashion, to help those people achieve political reconciliation and economic recovery.