§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the policy baseline for the Strategic Defence Review will be completed; and if it will be published. [5568]
§ Dr. ReidThe Strategic Defence Review is foreign policy led. Its first stage will reassess Britain's essential security interests and defence needs in the changing international environment. This work is expected to be completed during the Summer and will provide the policy baseline for the Review. We shall consider then whether anything should be published in advance of the completion of the Review.