§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the purpose of Great Britain's participation in the NATO exercises in the Indian Ocean ;
(2) if the NATO exercises in the Indian Ocean involving Great Britain are confined to the Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer in accordance with the NATO Charter.
§ Mr. William RodgersThere have been no NATO exercises in the Indian Ocean.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is proposed to withdraw 3 Division from its NATO role ; and, if so, if it is to be disbanded.
§ Mr. Robert C. BrownSubject to consultation with our allies we propose to reduce the reinforcements committed to NATO to the equivalent of a brigade group and a Royal Marine Commando group. The future deployment of the remainder of 3 Division is still under consideration.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what forces at present committed to NATO he proposes should no longer be so committed when the defence review has been implemented.
§ Mr. William RodgersI have nothing to add to my right hon. Friend's statement on 3rd December.
§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether his proposed consultations with NATO allies as to the cuts in the strength of British forces are to be confined to the detail and timing of the cuts rather than to the overall level of the cuts in the forces committed to NATO.
§ Mr. William RodgersAs my right hon. Friend explained to the House on 3rd December, the Government have decided that they should reduce defence expenditure as a proportion of gross national product from its present level of 5½ per cent. to A½ per cent. over60W the next 10 years. He also explained that the Government's conclusions about the force levels involved were provisional, and that the consultations with our allies in NATO would be thorough and genuine.
§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will set out the changes he intends to propose in Great Britain's contribution to the defence arrangements for the northern flank of NATO following his statement of 3rd December ;
(2) if he will set out the changes that he intends to propose in Great Britain's contribution to the defence arrangements for the southern flank of NATO following his statement of 3rd December.
§ Mr. William RodgersMy right hon. Friend explained to the House on 3rd December that we propose to maintain our contribution to the ACE Mobile Force of one battalion group, plus support units, Wessex helicopters and Harrier support. This contribution would be at SACEUR's disposal to deploy wherever he thought necessary, including the southern flank. We propose to reduce our other specialised reinforcement forces from their present levels to one airportable brigade group and a Royal Marine Commando group, which would be available for deployment to the central region or the northern flank of NATO, with the commando group specially trained and equipped for Arctic warfare. We shall be discussing with our NATO allies our force declarations to NATO in the Mediterranean.