§ Mr. O'Neillasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will include in his commentary on defence public expenditure programmes in the public expenditure White Paper an indication of the impact of the cost of the Trident project at the date of publication of the White Paper on the future composition of the remainder of the defence budget.
§ Mr. ButlerI have been asked to reply.
Pursuant to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary on 21 January, at column 321, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 29 January, at columns 134–37, his revised cost estimate for the Trident programme. This will represent on average about 3 per cent of the defence budget over the period of its procurement.