HL Deb 20 May 1981 vol 420 c954

2.55 p.m.

Lord Gisborough

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 they have intelligence reports of increased Soviet military activity in the trans-Caucasus region.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, we have no evidence of any recent unusual military activity in the trans-Caucasus region.

Lord Gisborough

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. Is he aware that there is a current report that there are no fewer than 26 Soviet divisions in this area? If this is true, would it not present a very serious threat to the oil states, and if it proves to be true will he draw the attention of the USSR to the concern of the West?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, the noble Lord will appreciate that he cannot expect me at this stage to go into detail on this matter. I am afraid I can neither confirm nor deny his figures. I can only confirm that we have no reason to believe that significant changes in military activity have taken place in this region recently.

Lord Gladwyn

My Lords, is it not possible now to verify by satellite the movement of every single Soviet soldier and tank in any area? And, if that is so, surely we know exactly what is happening in the Caucasus.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, perhaps I may say again what I said to my noble friend. I hope the noble Lord does not expect me to go into detail on this matter, and I can neither confirm nor deny his figures.

Lord Goronwy-Roberts

My Lords, for the purposes of this Question can the noble Lord define the region mentioned in the Question and in particular what state or states would, according to that definition, be contiguous to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Would it involve more than one particular state?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, the noble Lord, in his usual clever way, has put his finger on one of the points why I cannot really answer this Question. It is impossible to do so.

Lord Shinwell

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that his noble friend the Foreign Secretary has been travelling all over the world? Has he not made any discovery about the trans-Caucasian area? And, even if we knew about military activity in that area, what would we do about it?

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, I am grateful for the noble Lord's intervention and I am sure he will appreciate that I would prefer not to be drawn into speculation on these hypothetical scenarios.