§ 24. Mr. Robert Atkinsasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the meeting of certain North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Defence Ministers at Madrid on 9 July.
§ Mr. PattieMy right hon. Friend met his French, Garman, Italian and Spanish counterparts in Madrid on 9 July in order to review the position on the five nations' discussions on the viability of meeting their joint requirement for a new fighter aircraft in the mid-1990s by means of a collaborative programme. I am pleased to report that my right hon. Friend and his colleagues were able to agree to set in hand a six-month technical and industrial feasibility study of such a fighter aircraft weapon system. The full text of the resolution agreed in Madrid was quoted in my reply to a question by the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North (Mr. McNamara) on 10 July at columns 448–49.