§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will give details of the costs to the NATO infrastructure fund of transporting cascaded equipment; and what the United Kingdom proportion of this will be;
(2) if he will give details of the NATO cascade programme of equipment limited under the prospective CFE treaty;
(3) what is the cost to Britain of cascading equipment.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Cartwright) on 14 March 1990 at column 290. The alliance is still examining the opportunities for transferring surplus equipment to other nations and the extent to which the costs incurred can be met from NATO common funding. No decisions have been taken and we do not yet know what costs, if any, may fall to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom currently contributes 12 per cent. of the costs of the NATO infrastructure programme.