§ Mr. Maddenasked the Minister of Overseas Development (1) if she will list the specifications of aircraft parts sent by the Crown Agents to the Uganda Police Air Wing, in consignments to Uganda flown from Stansted Airport; and what was the total value of all goods sent to Uganda by the Crown Agents, via Stansted, in each of the past three years;
(2) what military equipment has been sent by the Crown Agents to Uganda, via Stansted, in each of the past three years; what notification the Crown 464W Agents have given her Department for such equipment to be dispatched; and in how many cases her Department has refused authorisation for the dispatch of any goods by the Crown Agents to Uganda over the past three years.
§ Mrs. HartIt would not be appropriate to give information about individual items of equipment supplied by Crown Agents to a principal in their capacity as agents. To do so would be a breach of commercial confidentiality and of the publicly stated practice of successive Ministers not to intervene in individual transactions undertaken by the Crown Agents as agents for their principal. The Crown Agents are not, therefore, normally required to consult Her Majesty's Government about the fulfilment of orders placed with them by overseas principals. In the special circumstances relating to Uganda, however, I asked the Crown Agents several weeks ago to inform me before sending any further supplies to Uganda for the use of the armed forces or police, while the general question of our trade relations with Uganda is examined.
§ Mr. Maddenasked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will instruct the Crown Agents to stop sending goods of any type to Uganda.
§ Mrs. HartI am considering the position, but the types of goods supplied by the Crown Agents to Uganda include much that is ordered for medical or educational purposes. There is, of course, no question of the supply by the Crown Agents of weapons or ammunition for the Ugandan army or police.