§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with his counterparts in(a) NATO and (b) the European Union on the United Kingdom's response to the events in the USA on 11 September; and if he will make a statement. [7170]
§ Mr. HoonWe are committed to pursuing concrete steps to counter terrorism in a number of international forums, and continue to meet overseas colleagues as part of the effort to build a strong international coalition against terrorism. In particular, I have met with NATO and EU colleagues on a number of occasions since 11 September, including during the NATO and EU informal ministerial meetings in Brussels on 26 September and 12 October respectively, to discuss measures to be taken in response to the attacks on the United States.
For the first time in its history, NATO has invoked article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, which states that an armed attack on one ally is an attack on all. Allies have now agreed material assistance to the US in response to the 11 September outrages, including the deployment of AWACS early warning aircraft and the Standing Naval Force Mediterranean
The EU Special Council on 21 September agreed to co-operate with the US in bringing to justice and punishing the perpetrators of the 11 September attacks, and approved a set of measures to combat terrorism, including enhancing police and judicial co-operation, developing international legal instruments, putting an end to the funding of terrorism and strengthening air security. The General Affairs Council on 8 October confirmed that all partners strongly support the US and UK military action.
§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the criteria to be used to determine terrorist targets to be attacked by NATO in response to the American World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks. [7135]
§ Mr. HoonNATO, as an organisation, has not participated in attacks on terrorist targets in Afghanistan. The alliance has, however, invoked article 5 of the Washington treaty, which states that an armed attack on 963W one ally is an attack on all, in response to the 11 September terrorist attacks. This is the strongest possible message that NATO allies stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in response to these outrages. Further to a request from the US, allies have agreed to take 8 measures in support of the US response to the terrorist attacks, including deployment of AWACS early warning aircraft to the United States.
US and British forces operations in Afghanistan over recent days are designed to damage, disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda's terrorist network and elements of the military infrastructure of the Taliban, whose support has allowed
Number of staff by grade level and region (Full-time equivalent) April 2000 Grade equivalent (paid grade) Government office region SCS Band B Band C Band D Band E Industrial/other grades All grades London 130 707 2,377 1,621 3,198 557 8,590 South East 71 1,283 5,268 4,102 6,688 4,962 22,375 South West 89 1,170 6,038 4,221 7,268 3,986 22,772 West Midlands 17 499 1,498 1,239 2,177 2,583 8,014 North West 1 17 260 325 1,109 445 2,156 North East — — 42 42 173 230 487 Yorks and Humber 2 21 293 693 1,011 966 2,986 East Midlands — 22 331 339 982 952 2,626 Eastern 8 164 1,391 1,331 2,430 1,061 6,385 England total 318 3,881 17,499 13,914 25,038 15,743 76,392 Wales 3 37 328 711 1,384 2,512 4,975 Scotland 3 90 1,080 1,430 3,811 2,980 9,394 Northern Ireland 1 13 215 241 1,103 1,655 3,228 Unreported and elsewhere 40 261 1,571 616 710 3,146 6,344 Grand total 365 4,282 20,693 16,912 32,046 26,036 100,333
Number of staff by grade level and region (Full-time equivalent) April 2000 Grade equivalent (paid grade) Grade equivalent (paid grade) SCS Band B Band C Band D Band E Industrial/other grades All grades London 36 17 11 10 10 2 9 South East 19 30 25 24 21 19 22 South West 24 27 29 25 23 15 23 West Midlands 5 12 7 7 7 10 8 North West — — — — — — — North East — — — — 1 1 — Yorks and Humber 1 — 1 4 3 4 3 East Midlands — 1 2 2 3 4 3 Eastern 2 4 7 8 8 4 6 England total 87 91 85 82 78 60 76 Wales 1 1 2 4 4 10 5 Scotland 1 2 5 8 12 11 9 Northern Ireland — — 1 1 3 6 3 Unreported and elsewhere 11 6 8 4 2 12 6 Grand total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 964W
Median salary by pay band as at September 2000 Grade equivalence pay band Salary (£) SCS 56,990 Band B 35,639 Band C 20,873 Band D 18,400 Band E 16,771 Industrial/other grades 26,075 Afghanistan to be used as a base for terrorism across the world. The targets included terrorist training camps, military airfields and air defence sites.