§ Mr. Douglasasked the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department proposes to meet a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commitment to increase expenditure on conventional weapons.
§ Mr. StanleyBy the next financial year the Government will have raised defence expenditure to a level about one fifth higher in real terms that it was in 1978–79. This increase in expenditure has gone overwhelmingly to our conventional forces. We will continue to look for ways of releasing additional resources through greater efficiency, economy and competition.