HC Deb 05 March 1996 vol 273 cc143-4
9. Mr. Hain

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the findings of the Scott report relating to his Department. [16846]

Mr. Portillo

My Department will be working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry in its review of export control powers and procedures, and will lead the review of the parliamentary convention on the release of information about defence exports.

Mr. Hain

Does the Secretary of State accept that the Scott report found that key documents that would have led to the Matrix Churchill trial being stopped were in the Ministry of Defence, but were not disclosed to either the prosecution or the defence? For example, section G9.2 of the report referred to a letter from a civil servant, Mr. Barrett, to Defence Ministers, which showed that Matrix Churchill lathes were supplying shells to the Iraqis. That being the case—

Madam Speaker

Order. The hon. Member must come to his question to the Minister and not give us a long recitation. He must now ask a question directly of the Minister.

Mr. Hain

That being the case, there were surely massive failures in the Ministry of Defence. What is the Secretary of State doing to make sure that the failures that Scott revealed are not repeated?

Mr. Portillo

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has made it perfectly clear that all the Scott recommendations either have been implemented or will be considered carefully. The Scott report points out that we have already taken steps to change and improve our procedures before the report was even brought to fruition. Individual cases will be investigated thoroughly and the House will know the results of those investigations. However, the hon. Gentleman is now dredging pretty deep in a matter that has been discussed exhaustively in the House already.

Mr. Garnier

Is my right hon. Friend aware that one of the lessons that we can learn from the whole affair is that Iraq spent about $80 billion on military procurement during the Iran-Iraq war and only about $750 million of that was spent on British non-lethal equipment? Is that not one of the honest principles that we can demonstrate that the Government strongly stood for during that time?

Mr. Portillo

I believe that Britain can be proud of its record. We did not export any lethal weapons to Iraq during that period. When we fought in the Gulf, our service men were not fighting against British lethal weapons. A number of countries close to us sold tanks and missiles to Iraq during that period. We had in place guidelines governing the export of non-lethal equipment and the Scott inquiry was about the way in which those guidelines were interpreted. Britain's record stands comparison with that of any of our competitors and our allies.

Mr. Dalyell

Did any Minister see Mr. Barrett's letter?

Mr. Portillo

I am afraid that I do not understand the question.