§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many abandoned British bases there are in Antarctica; and what steps have been taken to retrieve the waste generated there.
§ Mr. SainsburyTwelve British bases were abandoned over the period 1946–75. The United Kingdom is urgently developing a strategy to implement the recommendation on waste disposal following the XV Antarctic treaty consultative meeting in Paris in October 1989. We shall start to implement this new policy and, in particular, prepare a timetable for waste disposal in 1990.
§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many operating British bases there are in Antarctica.
§ Mr. SainsburyThere are five—Bird Island, Signy, Rothera, Faraday and Hailey.