§ Mr. Concannonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the total annual cost to Great Britain over the past ten years in maintaining stability in the Middle East oilfields; and how much of this cost was used to protect the interests of other countries such as Japan and America.
§ Mr. Goronwy RobertsThere is no direct connection between our military presence and the maintenance of stability in the Middle East oilfields. Our presence, arising from our treaty obligations in the area, by contributing to the preservation of peace is of incidental benefit to oil operations, but this cannot be expressed in monetary terms.