§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to make further studies of the UK's preparedness for defence against chemical and biological weapons. [8122]
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§ Mr. HoonThe 1998 Strategic Defence Review (Cm 3999) identified the importance of the UK's defence response to the potential use of weapons of mass destruction. The threat posed by chemical and biological weapons is under continuous review and we constantly monitor the preparedness of the UK's armed forces to meet it. The strategy paper "Defending against the Threat from Biological and Chemical Weapons" of 21 July 1999, cited on 21 July 1999,Official Report, column 537W, explained in more detail our policy, and the ways in which we planned to develop our capabilities further to protect our armed forces. The United Kingdom has also been active in promoting wider preparedness in this area within NATO.
I announced on 2 October that we would be continuing work on the defence of the UK and our capabilities to counter and deter terrorism abroad in light of the 11 September attacks. This work will look at our concepts, force structures and capabilities to ensure that we can meet the challenge of asymmetric threats.
Our current contingency plans, which have been reviewed recently, include being able to deal with a wide range of terrorist threats that we might face in the UK or overseas.