§ 3. Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Air Force personnel have been seconded to overseas posts on more than one occasion in the last five years. [16839]
§ The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Nicholas Soames)Statistics relating to the secondment of Royal Air Force personnel to overseas posts are not held centrally. In general, the initial period is sometimes extended and some personnel occasionally undertake a second or subsequent period of secondment.
§ Mr. WalkerMy hon. Friend will be aware that individuals in some sections of the service are required to do more than others because of the scarcity of personnel with particular skills and experience. Will he confirm that the Government are well aware of the difficulties that have arisen in that area? Will he assure me and the House that something will be done to address what is a relic of "Options for Change"—something for which my hon. Friend bears no responsibility?
§ Mr. SoamesI am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me a chance to flag up the extraordinary achievements of the RAF in the past few years. The RAF undoubtedly has been through a period of profound change and uncertainty in many different areas, but the Royal Air Force board and all the young men and women in the service have handled those changes with great aplomb, skill and determination. I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to his former service and the way in which it has coped. There have been difficulties, but the RAF has handled them well. I am happy to give my hon. Friend the assurances that he wants.
§ Dr. David ClarkDoes not the Minister's answer confirm that the pressure on men and machines in the RAF caused by overstretch is becoming unacceptable? Have not the additional demands on the RAF—the air exclusion zones in Bosnia and in north and south Iraq and the flying in of relief to Sarajevo—put intense pressure on it? Does he intend to announce thousands of further redundancies in the RAF later this month?
§ Mr. SoamesBy his remarks, the hon. Gentleman shows a profound and true misunderstanding of the RAF and of all those who work in it. Clearly the RAF wants to be involved in these operations, and although it has been busy and the demands on it have been heavy, that is what the RAF exists for. Reductions in the numbers of aircraft and RAF personnel have been carefully planned, and have been approved by the Royal Air Force board. The reductions are entirely consistent with the RAF's commitments and do not compromise either its requirements for training or flight safety. The hon. Gentleman is right that the RAF is busy and stretched, but that is what it needs and wants. We have sympathy and understanding for the RAF as it works its way through a difficult period. It deserves great credit for handling the problems so well.
§ Dr. SpinkWill my hon. Friend join me in congratulating the RAF on the way in which it has conducted its peacekeeping role in northern and southern Iraq and Bosnia? Does he think that it could continue to perform such peacekeeping roles around the world if he were to follow the policies suggested to Opposition Members by, for example, the Transport and General Workers Union, which, in a letter to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence, advocated an £18 billion cut in defence spending each year?
§ Mr. SoamesIt would clearly be unable to do so. The defence review cherished by the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark)—which he calls on the services to accept and would ram down their throat—would deny them the chance to undertake the operations at which they excel so brilliantly. It just goes to show that, as we all know, we could not possibly—and never have been able to—trust Labour with defence.