§ 2.38 p.m.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds the joint Anglo-Spanish naval exercises planned for the month of November have been cancelled.]
§ THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE FOR THE ROYAL AIR FORCE (LORD SHACKLETON)My Lords, provisional arrangements for this joint naval exercise had been under consideration for several months. However, the timing of the exercise was such that the new Government were left with insufficient time to consider fully all the implications. This being so, the Government felt unable to approve this particular exercise's going ahead.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, if I am in order, may I, first of all, be permitted to congratulate the noble Lord on his first appearance at the Box and to say how delighted we all are to see him? May I also ask him whether he is aware of the very great success which has attended these Anglo-Spanish naval exercises in past years, and of the fact that the Spanish-American exercises which followed them were the biggest amphibious operation since D-Day? This I think, shows the importance which our American Allies attach to these exercises, from the point of view of the defence of the Straits and the Western Mediterranean. Having regard to this, may I ask the noble Lord whether he will impress on Her Majesty's Government the importance of considering this matter 216 very carefully, with a view to a resumption of these exercises at an early date?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I should like first to thank the noble Lord for his kind remarks, and the House for its reception of them. This decision does not necessarily rule out future exercises with the Spanish Navy, and I can assure the noble Lord that the matter will be very fully considered. It is a difficult matter to go into in any great detail at the present moment, but I have certainly noted what the noble Lord has said.
§ BARONESS HORSBRUGHMy Lords, could the noble Lord say whether, when the decision was come to, it was announced as a postponement or a cancellation, because there seems to be some misunderstanding among a good many members of the public?
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I think it was announced as a decision not to go ahead.
§ BARONESS HORSBRUGHIs that a cancellation?