§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the journalists he has had meetings with at his Department since December 1999; and on what dates these meetings were held. [129828]
§ Mr. HoonI have been interviewed by the following journalists and broadcasters at the Ministry of Defence since December 1999:
Interviewer Date Ian Kirby (News of the World) 6 January 2000 Alex Nicholl (Financial Times) 1 March 2000 Peter Ryan (Economist) 2 March 2000 Lucy Jackson (British Forces Broadcasting Service) 21 March 2000 News piece1(BBC TV News) 23 March 2000 Anita Anand (Zee TV) 4 April 2000 Richard Norton-Taylor (The Guardian) 17 April 2000 Tim Sebastian (BBC Hardtalk) 8 May 2000 Jon Craig (Express on Sunday) 5 July 2000 1Interviewer name not recorded In addition, I have had a number of door-step interviews at the MOD with various different broadcast news teams, particularly during May and June when a large number of British troops were deployed to Sierra Leone.
I have also hosted the following press conferences to which a wide range of journalists and broadcasters have been invited:
Press conference subject Date Announcement of Eurofighter missile and heavy lift aircraft procurement decisions 16 May 2000 Launch of Defence Estates Strategy 7 June 2000