HC Deb 14 July 1997 vol 298 cc10-1
6. Mr. Spring

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to have completed his strategic defence review; and if he will make a statement. [6512]

Mr. George Robertson

I expect the work of the strategic defence review to be completed around the turn of the year.

Mr. Spring

In view of the importance of the strategic defence review and the uncertainty that it is causing both to our armed forces and to our procurement industries, I hope that it will be completed by no later than the end of the year. However, how does the right hon. Gentleman's assertion fit with the Treasury's comprehensive spending review, which is due to be completed only in the spring?

Mr. Robertson

It takes special brass neck and cheek for a Conservative Member to get up and talk about the uncertainty caused by our defence review. The Conservatives were slung out of office because, without conducting any strategic defence review, they cut the defence budget and cut manpower by more than one third in the past five years. We will not take any lessons from them.

The country welcomes the idea of taking a position, having a vision for our armed forces and establishing the country's priorities sensibly. We will complete the review by the turn of the year and it will also be the comprehensive spending review for our Department.

Mr. Dalyell

In the strategic review, will account be taken of the safety of our forces, given the all too likely retaliation by the Serbs following the SAS operation? If there are to be any more such operations, would not it be wise to talk to the Russians first?

Mr. Robertson

The safety of our troops and, indeed, of other British citizens serving in the former Yugoslavia, was one of our principal concerns before any decision was taken about serving indictments on those accused of war crimes. We made that clear beforehand and we have made it clear subsequently. We regard that obligation as absolutely paramount.

The exercise conducted last week by NATO troops, with British stabilisation force troops in the vanguard, revitalised the Dayton process by bringing to justice the people accused of those terrible crimes. We have acted not just for the future of Bosnia but for future standards of conduct in the world.

Sir George Young

Are not the Government running a serious risk of getting into a muddle with two separate reviews? The Secretary of State's departmental review, which he hopes to complete by the end of the year, is foreign policy led and has scarcely any reference to resources, whereas the Treasury review, which will last a year, is Treasury led. If the Secretary of State thinks that he will complete his review by the end of the year and secure Treasury consent before the Treasury has completed its fundamental expenditure review, he is misleading himself. Will not the Treasury outgun his review?

Mr. Robertson

No, because we do not operate like the previous Government. I said that we expect to complete the strategic defence review by the turn of the year. We are conducting it quickly enough to avoid the uncertainties and instabilities caused by the previous Government's savage cuts, but we will also take enough time to ensure that we do it properly and sensibly. That review will take the place of Ministry of Defence spending plans, and will offer certainty and vision to those who serve this country and its armed forces, for which they have been yearning over the past decade.

Ann Clwyd

Given the Government's clear commitment to human rights, will my right hon. Friend review the procedures whereby army officers from countries with appalling human rights records are invited to buy arms at arms fairs in this country? Will he withdraw the invitation to three Indonesian generals, who were apparently invited by the previous Government to an arms fair in the United Kingdom in September?

Mr. Robertson

We are always careful whom we invite to this country and about what we sell them. A major review is under way into the United Kingdom's defence sales. I hope that when my hon. Friend sees the results of that review, she will applaud it.