§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency planning he has carried out concerning Britain's participation in NATO's combined joint task force initiative. [29890]
§ Mr. SoamesThe UK has participated fully in the development of the combined joint task force concept since it was announced at the January 1994 NATO summit. The concept will provide NATO with a capability to form deployable headquarters, from within existing fixed headquarters, to provide the command and control of multinational and multi-service forces deployed on contingency operations. We expect to play a full part in implementation of the concept, through our participation in NATO headquarters affected by the initiative.