§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his letter DD/94/P/618 of 13 July, what response he has had from France about commitment to the CERN large hadron collider; and what collaboration he had from the United States of America and the Japanese.
Mr. Robert G. HughesFrance have now made a formal offer of an additional contribution towards the cost of the large hadron collider, in recognition of her status as a CERN host country. This offer and the way forward is now being given careful consideration by the UK as well as our other partners in CERN. We hope to hold further discussions in the near future.
Contacts with our colleagues in the USA and Japan have continued throughout the discussions on the LHC. We have made it clear that a project of this magnitude must proceed on the basis of a fair and sustainable financial framework. They will be familiar with, and will welcome, the efforts which we, with our CERN partners, are making to establish tight cost control of the project.