§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he has anything to add to the statement made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell, to the House on 13 January, Official Report, column 232, on the nature of the United Kingdom mobile force;
(2) if he will make a further statement on the future of the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein;
(3) whether discussions have taken place recently with politicians, officials, or military personnel from Denmark on any proposed changes to the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to that country;
(4) whether discussions have taken place with General Bernard Rogers, Supreme Commander, Allied Forces, Europe, on the future of the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein;
(5) whether discussions have taken place recently with any North Atlantic Treaty Organisation personnel on changes to the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein;
(6) whether discussions have taken place recently with politicians, officials, or military personnel from the Federal Republic of Germany on any changes to the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein;
(7) whether discussions have taken place recently with politicians, officials or military personnel from the United States of America on any proposed changes to the United Kingdom mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein.
§ Mr. FreemanI refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces to the right hon. Member for Llanelli (Mr. Davies) on 20 January. Naturally all interested Allies are being kept informed of our discussions within NATO and, in view of the strategic importance of the Baltic approaches, any proposals for change would be a matter for collective Alliance consideration.
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§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of cost savings by withdrawing the United Kingdom's mobile force commitment to Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein.
§ Mr. FreemanHer Majesty's Government are committed to making efforts to improve output from the considerable resources we devote to defence and it is in this context that we are discussing within NATO whether, in its present role, the UKMF represents the most effective use of those resources. The financial implications of any change in current deployment plans would depend on the outcome of the confidential discussions currently underway in NATO, which cannot yet be predicted.