§ Mr. Fauldsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution he intends to make in response to the appeal by M. Pierre Lardinois, EEC Commissioner for Agriculture, to provide transport aircraft to ferry food supplies to areas of severe drought in Africa.
§ Mr. WoodI have received the appeal which M. Lardinois made to the European Parliament on 11th May for the provision of aircraft to carry food supplies to areas in Sahelian Africa. I have not yet had any indication of the types of aircraft required and the specific purposes for which they would be used. Until I know this, I cannot decide whether a response to the appeal for aircraft would be the best contribution we could make from our resources. I announced in a written reply yesterday that Her Majesty's Government have reacted swiftly to the relief effort being organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, and are also taking part in the efforts organised by the European Community.