§ 11. Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service men who were not serving as part of a NATO commitment were serving overseas on 1 January 1986, 1990 and 1997. [8981]
§ Mr. SoamesThe numbers of service personnel serving overseas other than as part of a NATO commitment on 1 January 1986 and 1990 were 25,575 and 21,650 respectively. The latest available comparable figure, for 1 June 1996, is 15,733.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithGiven the various changes to our defence policy in the past few years, does my hon. Friend agree that those figures should be underlined and presented to the Treasury as a sign of our total commitment? Will he now persuade our right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to write to the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) and ask him to say, as a signal service to the nation, which of those commitments he would cut to fit in with Labour party policy of cutting overall defence expenditure?
§ Mr. SoamesI am grateful to my hon. Friend for referring to a question that, like so much of Labour policy, remains hopelessly unanswered, vapid and up in the air. The obligations and commitments of the United Kingdom's armed forces reflect our historical links and obligations, our status as one of the world's great trading nations and our position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. He may like to know that a royal naval deployment, Ocean Wave, left Portsmouth yesterday led by the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and 20 other ships. It will be deployed through the far east and the Pacific rim to show that Britain still has extraordinary interest, influence and capability in that part of the world.