§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has reviewed the proposed investment by British Telecom in the Unisat project; and if he has satisfied himself that the project does not involve losses that could impair the sale of British Telecom shares.
§ Mr. ButcherSpecific investments are a commercial matter for British Telecom and its investment in the Unisat project has not been the subject of any Departmental review.
§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has made any estimate of the overseas content of the Unisat project; and if he will detail it.
§ Mr. ButcherUnisat is a commercial programme, and the Government are not involved in the funding or placing of contracts. It is therefore neither practicable nor appropriate to detail the contractual arrangements. However, excluding the launches, which are always undertaken overseas, I understand that about 85 per cent. of total expenditures on platform and payload systems, sub-systems and equipments and associated services would be in Britain.