HL Deb 18 November 1976 vol 377 cc1460-1

3.14 p.m.

Lord NEWALL

My 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 whether the Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 1975 by the United States and the United Kingdom will apply to the tank armament trials due to take place between Germany, the USA and the United Kingdom in December.

Lord WINTER BOTTOM

My Lords, the tank armament trials planned for this December are within the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding to which the noble Lord has referred, though they are in practice a further instalment of earlier trilateral tank armament evaluation trials which took place in the first half of 1975, before the Memorandum of Understanding was signed.

Lord NEWALL

My Lords, while thanking the Minister very much for that full Answer, may I ask whether the British invention of Chobham armour will be used in future as a factor in deciding whose armament we shall use, or were the secrets given to our allies in such a way that there were no strings attached?

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

That is another question, my Lords, but I will bring it to the notice of my right honourable friend. If the noble Lord would care to put down a Question on the subject, I will try to answer it.

Lord SHINWELL

My Lords, may we have an assurance that the information that is being conveyed to the United States—I mention the United States in particular because they are concerned with the Memorandum mentioned in the Question—is being conveyed on the basis of reciprocity; that is, that secret information of this kind, which is of great importance in terms of military strategy, demands a quid pro quo? Do we understand that?

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, I assume that my noble friend is referring to the armour rather than the weapon. The point is that we have an agreement for the exchange of information with the United States and it is a reciprocal one.

Lord SHINWELL

I want to be sure about that, my Lords. Can my noble friend be more specific? We are giving information of considerable strategic importance to the United States. That country is in possession of very modern weapon devices. Can we be assured that we are provided with information about those?

Lord WINTERBOTTOM

In so far as that is outside the scope of this Question, yes, my Lords.

Lord SHINWELL

My Lords, it was right inside the Question, I should have thought.