§ 7. Mr. Arnoldasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any further plans to purchase Nimrod aircraft.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Mr. Geoffrey Pattie)There are no plans to place orders for further Nimrods at present.
§ Mr. ArnoldThe Royal Air Force will be 65 years old this weekend. What better way of honouring that anniversary than for my hon. Friend to make a commitment to the cost of starting up the production line for Nimrods, which would help not only the RAF but potential export customers?
§ Mr. PattieAs my hon. Friend knows, the reopening of the production line for Nimrod is primarily a matter for British Aerospace. We are awaiting proposals from British Aerospace and I hope that they will be forthcoming quite soon.
§ Mr. DalyellWith their twin Marconi AD 470 high frequency transceivers, could not Ascension based Nimrods pick up the coded messages between the Argentine mainland and the Belgrano and her escorts? With their encryption facilities, could they not send coded in-flight messages to the British Prime Minister, and was it not partly through Nimrod that the Prime Minister knew perfectly well what the orders were from the mainland to the Belgrano before she gave the orders to HMS Conqueror to torpedo her?
§ Mr. PattieNo.
§ Mr. DalyellIt is a lie.
§ Sir Hector MonroDoes my hon. Friend agreeߞ
§ Mr. DalyellThat is a lie.
§ Sir Hector Monro—that the Nimrod is now an outstanding maritime aircraft, particularly—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I distinctly heard the hon. Member for West Lothian (Mr. Dalyell) repeat the word "lie". He must now withdraw it.
§ Mr. DalyellThe Minister was misleading the House of Commons.
§ Mr. SpeakerHas the hon. Gentleman withdrawn the word "lie"?
§ Mr. DalyellCertainly. I withdraw the word "lie". The Minister was misleading the House of Commons.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is enough. I call Sir Hector Monro.
§ Sir Hector MonroDoes my hon. Friend agree that the Nimrod is an outstanding maritime patrol aircraft, particularly now that it has an air fueling capability? Does he also agree that the Shackelton has done magnificent service but is now becoming obsolescent? How long will it be before they are all retired?
§ Mr. PattieI believe my hon. Friend knows that we have plans to replace the Shackleton AEW squadron with the Nimrod AEW squadron in about two years from now.