§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members if the armed forces and civil servants from his Department were engaged in psychological warfare in Northern Ireland each year from 1972 to 1987.
§ Mr. FreemanIt is not the policy to comment on operational matters.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces and civil servants from his Department were trained in psychological warfare in each year from 1972 to 1987 in England, in the United States of America, or in both.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Ministry of Defence no longer uses the term "psychological warfare". In common with the rest of NATO, the Ministry of Defence uses the term "psychological operations" and runs courses intended to familiarise Ministry of Defence personnel with the background to and the concept of psychological operations. Records of Ministry of Defence personnel attending psychological operations training courses are only held from 1983. The figures for those personnel attending such courses in the United Kingdom are as follows:
Year Numbers Attending 1983–84 111 1984–85 12 1985–86 14 1986–87 9 1987–88 10 1 Including one civil servant A small number of armed forces personnel have also attended psychological operations training courses run in the USA. Records of numbers of such personnel exist from 1982 only, and are shown below:
Year Numbers Attending 1982 2 1983 1 1984 0 1985 0 1986 1 1987 3