§ 8. Mr. Jon Owen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he made to ensure that the cuts in the Atomic Weapons Establishment were not disproportionately made in Wales.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Rod Richards)My right hon. Friend was consulted before the recent decisions about the Atomic Weapons Establishment were taken. The rationalisation will be made possible by the completion of work on Trident warheads. Cardiff has not been singled out. The Atomic Weapons Establishment in Cardiff will close in 1997, Hunting-BRAE, the operating contractor, will withdraw from Foulness in 1998 and component production at Burghfield will transfer to Aldermaston in 1999.
§ Mr. JonesThe Minister should recall that I raised the question of disproportionately low Government defence expenditure in Wales in October. As AWE has announced a 15 per cent. reduction in its work force across Britain and a 100 per cent. reduction in its work force in Wales, how does the Minister intend to advance the cause of Wales against that bias in defence-related industries?
Another topical issue is the official service residences, over which Sir Sandy Wilson has recently got into hot water. There are 78 such residences throughout the world, yet not one in Wales. What will the Welsh Office do about that bias against Wales?
§ Mr. RichardsRationalisation of AWE was necessary because the Trident programme is coming to an end. It is outrageous that a Labour Member should talk about bias 652 against Wales in defence expenditure, because if Labour Members had had their way at any time during the 1980s all those jobs would have disappeared years ago.