Gulf Forces (Hansard, 27 November 1990)

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements have been made to provide service personnel with the ability to telephone the United Kingdom and Germany.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
We are giving urgent consideration, in consultation with British Telecom, Mercury and Cable and Wireless, to the establishment of a welfare telephone link between the Gulf and the United Kingdom and Germany. A trial system is currently being tested.
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Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements have been made to provide the families of service personnel in the Gulf region with facilities to visit the area.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
There are no plans to introduce such arrangements.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the intended length of tours of duty for service -personnel in the Gulf region.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
It is intended that service personnel now being deployed to the Gulf will serve a tour of duty of about six months. The precise duration will depend on a number of factors and will be governed by operational considerations.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are any plans for Combined Services Entertainment to stage any productions in the Gulf region.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
Yes.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the military equipment sent to the Gulf region will be included within the forthcoming treaty on conventional forces in Europe.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
United . Kingdom equipment deployed to the Gulf will continue to be treated for the purposes of the CFE treaty as if it remained within that treaty's area of application, and has been included within the equipment totals declared for the purposes of that treaty.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence . what steps have been taken to establish libraries for service personnel in the Gulf region.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
Regular supplies of paperback books are sent to the Gulf. We are keeping under review the requirement to establish formal libraries.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are any plans for the Services Sound and Vision Corporation to set up(a) cinemas or (b) video libraries in the Gulf region.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
The Services Sound and Vision Corporation plans to have two mobile cinemas operating in the area early next month. Several hundred video cassettes have already been sent to the Gulf, together with televisions and video recorders.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Services Sound and Vision Corporation or the British Forces Broadcasting Service intend to broadcast any material in the Gulf region.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
The Services Sound and Vision Corporation is already making regular short-wave broadcasts to the Gulf. As I announced yesterday, we have decided to expand the broadcasting facilities in the area by providing VHF facilities in Saudi Arabia to broadcast British Forces Broadcasting Service programmes. This will provide coverage in the area of eastern Saudi Arabia from December. In addition, trials are to be undertaken this month of broadcasting further BFBS programmes using short-wave transmissions from Cyprus.
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§ Mr. Cohen
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are sufficient supplies of buttons for the desert uniforms for British soldiers stationed in the Gulf.

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton
Yes. There was a temporary shortage of one size of button in the initial stages of the production of desert combat clothing, but this problem has now been overcome.