§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library copies of the British equivalent of the US Department of the Navy SP10 Memo 4900 SP131522 relating to UK Trident purchases in the US from fiscal year 1984 to date. [67040]
§ Mr. George RobertsonI am assuming that the documents which my hon. Friend is seeking are the UK's responses to the US Department of the Navy's budget authorisation requests. Copies of UK budget authorisations going back to 1984 are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. I have, however, arranged for the authorisations for the last six US fiscal years to be placed in the Library.
More comprehensive estimates of UK Trident acquisitions and running costs were included in the Strategic Defence Review Supporting Essay Five.