§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2001,Official Report, column 100W, on US National Missile Defense, what concerns his Department voiced to the previous US Administration with regard to US National Missile Defense; and what discussions took place with regard to the use of (a) RAF Fylingdales and (b) other military bases in the United Kingdom. [148874]
§ Mr. HoonWe made it clear to the previous US Administration that we understood why the US is concerned about the threat from weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery and why they were considering deployment of a national missile defense system as one aspect of their response to the threat. We received no formal request from the previous US Administration for the use of facilities in the UK as part of their proposed system.