HL Deb 08 February 1978 vol 388 c1158WA
Lord HYLTON

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How their attitude at the United Nations Special Session on Disarmament is to be reconciled with their sponsorship of the second British Army Equipment Exhibition at Aldershot in June 1978.

Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS

The Government believe that the only satisfactory way of limiting the worldwide build-up of conventional arms is by multilateral agreement between suppliers and customers. Proposals on this are included in the draft for the Programme of Action to be adopted by the Special Session on Disarmament which we and other Western States put forward in the United Nations on 1st February. A copy is in the Library of the House. Pending multilateral agreements on conventional arms limitations, we think it right to continue to export limited quantitites of defence equipment to friendly countries under strict controls. The British Army Equipment Exhibition will play a small role in this process, by demonstrating the types of equipment available.