3. Mr. John Mark Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about 792 purchases by his Department of military equipment from Land Rover and about exports by Land Rover for military applications.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement (Mr. John Lee)Land Rover is a major supplier of vehicles to the services. Current Ministry of Defence orders on the company are for 4,500 of the new 110 model. A substantial order for military versions of the shorter wheelbase 90 model is expected in the near future. For many years Land Rover has been very successful in exporting its range of vehicles to defence customers. I am confident that the military versions of its latest 90 and 110 models will prove even more attractive than their predecessors in the overseas defence market.
Mr. TaylorI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he think that any of those exports would be put at risk if the ownership of Land Rover passed out of British hands? For example, has not General Motors said that it would discriminate as to the countries to which it would sell?
§ Mr. LeeThe future ownership of Land Rover is a matter for the Department of Trade and Industry. The Ministry of Defence has more than 20,000 Land Rovers in service. We look to the company to honour existing and planned orders, to provide adequate customer support in terms of spares and components and also to continue United Kingdom research and development and manufacture.
§ Mr. McNamaraThe House will be interested to hear that the Department of Trade and Industry will decide who will be Britain's main defence suppliers. In view of the figures that the hon. Gentleman has given, would it not be correct and better to keep Land Rover under the control of a British company in Britain, able to meet Britain's defence needs, and not be at the whim of Detroit?
§ Mr. LeeWe all heard what the hon. Gentleman said. I have nothing to add to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. StokesDoes my hon. Friend agree that the purchases by his Department and the military exports of Land Rover would not be affected if part of the company were owned by a foreign concern? Are not many suppliers to the Ministry of Defence also not entirely British?
§ Mr. LeeMy hon. Friend is right on the latter point. In fact, the Bedford subsidiary of General Motors is a substantial supplier of medium tracks. We have about 21,000 of its medium tracks in our fleet. As a point of interest, in 1985 the Ministry of Defence took 6 per cent. of the total output of Land Rover, Solihull.