§ Lord KENNETasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have protested to the Soviet Union over the five or more weekly intrusions into United Kingdom air space by Soviet military aircraft and, if so, what the Soviet response has been; and, if not, whether they will now do so either unilaterally or together with other NATO countries (for instance Norway and Denmark) whose air space is also violated.
§ Lord STRATHCONA and MOUNT ROYALSoviet military aircraft regularly fiy into, and are intercepted within, the United Kingdom Air Defence Region, a nationally defined area which has no status in international law. There were on average five such interceptions per week in 1979. The aircraft concerned do not, however, penetrate our territorial air space, and there are therefore no grounds for a protest to be made to the Soviet Union.
House adjourned at fifteen minutes past eight o'clock.