§ Mr. Boyesasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the numbers, titles and dates of publication of all Ministry of Defence, Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force news releases for each of the years 1978 to the present.
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§ Mr. Norman LamontTo answer the question in the detail requested would be prohibitively time-consuming However, the number of releases by year and service is as follows:
Ministry of Defence Royal Navy Army Royal Air Force 1978 85 93 96 107 1979 70 115 56 89 1980 65 100 77 58 1981 76 83 81 48 1982 85 88 85 66 1983 84 101 66 60 1984 71 83 43 32 1985* 63 74 36 13 * To date. These totals do not include the weekly service appointments lists sent to the The Times and Daily Telegraph. Nor do they include aircraft accident summaries or releases issued by commands, districts and units.