§ Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the NATO defence ministerial guidance to 1998 agreed in May 1991 and its implications for answering threats to the United Kingdom.
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§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe 1991 ministerial guidance which was approved by Defence Ministers at their meeting at the end of May provides political guidance for defence planning activities in NATO, both national and collective, for the period up to 1998 and beyond. The guidance emphasises the need to maintain the effectiveness of the alliance's collective defence arrangements and thus to provide the level of resources necessary to ensure that forces contributing to the new force structures are adequately manned, equipped, trained and exercised, and so capable of countering any threat to the territory of allies.