Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral answer of 4 February,Official Report, column 119, to the hon. Member for Rhondda, (Mr. Rogers), over what time period the 25,000 redundancies occurred; whether the jobs lost were directly or indirectly dependent on defence expenditure; whether the jobs lost were dependent on equipment expenditure, non-equipment expenditure or exports; in which regions these job losses have occurred; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe source of the figure quoted was public announcements by major defence companies since 1990. Employment levels are a matter for the commercial judgment of the companies concerned, and my Department does not hold the further information that the hon. Gentleman requests.