§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance his Department is providing to defence contractors, as a result of redundancies, in the procurement budget.
§ Mr. FreemanMy Department expects to remain the largest single customer of the United Kingdoms defence industry. To help defence contractors adjust to reductions in the defence budget, we provide them with as much information as possible on our future procurement plans.
§ Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to ensure that United States firms competing for United Kingdom defence contracts are treated in the same way as United Kingdom firms seeking to tender for United States defence contracts; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanIt is our policy to promote fair and open international competition for defence equipment contracts and we encourage other countries to do the same. To this end we reviewed the US-UK defence co-operation memorandum of understanding in December last year, which helps to maintain a two-way street in bilateral defence trade between the UK and the US.