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13 MAY 1974
I have initiated should not suffer from this piecemeal approach.
Mr. F. A. Burden (Gillingham): Would not the right hon. Gentleman accept that many of the civilians are actively en- gaged in support services to the Services and in naval dockyards, concerned with production for the Services, and that without them there could be no forces?
Mr. Mason: I am well aware of that and I do not want to keep giving them spasms of uncertainty, such as was the case throughout the whole of the last year of the previous administration's period of office. I want us to be able to carry out a defence review which makes sense, and I do not think that we should take arbitrary decisions such as were taken by the previous administration. The review will be conducted calmly and rationally, and there must be sufficient time for ade- quate consultation with allies, both inside and outside Europe, whose interests are involved. Where major adjustments will be needed both in the nature and the extent of requirements for future weapons and other equipment, our aim will be to give industry the maximum notice possible so that an orderly transi- tion can be made to match the new re- quirements. Our aim is that industry should be able to form a clear picture of whatever adjustments are needed and which we would expect to take effect from 1975-76 onwards.
The economic difficulties which form the background to our defence effort are, as I have shown, quite considerable; but so is the military threat, and this makes a defence effort necessary. In saying this I am not, of course, making a political assessment about the actions which the Warsaw Pact might take in the years ahead.
Lord Bainiel (Welwyn and Hatfield): Before leaving the matter of the defence review, can the right hon. Gentleman say whether he has set a financial target for the restriction of defence expenditure?
Mr. Mason: No, I have not. I am looking over our commitment and at various levels of expenditure, and in due course I will examine the situation to find where we shall be able to make cuts of several hundred million pounds in defence.
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Mr. George Younger (Ayr): I would be grateful if the right hon. Gentleman could clarify a point. He said earlier that cancellations would be necessary to meet his target. Now he has just said that he does not have a target.
Mr. Mason: The hon. Gentleman has not been paying attention. He has been too busy listening to the chatter around him, and to jokes about defence, and he has now fallen into the same trap. He should have listened more carefully. With regard to short-term cuts, in 1974-75, yes, there are bound to be cancellations. I am to review across the board all three Ser- vices, but I cannot give any detailed indications about this just yet.
Sir Anthony Royle (Richmond, Surrey): I am not clear on one aspect of what the right hon. Gentleman said. If we are looking at our commitment and if we are deciding to maintain our com- mitment in certain parts of the world, whether they be, for instance, Hong Kong, Brunei or Singapore, shall we maintain that commitment by keeping forces at a rate which is correct to carry out the commitments? In other words, with regard to Hong Kong, shall we maintain the garrison at the present level?
Mr. Speaker: Before the Minister answers, may I point out that 30 right hon, and hon. Members want to take part in the debate. The House must choose: it can have question and answer or a debate.
Mr. Mason : I am much obliged to you, Mr. Speaker, but I am willing to help hon. Members, especially when they get in a tangle, as one hon. Member did just now. In the short term there are bound to be cancellations. As to commitments, I said that we are examining all commitments abroad and are looking at various levels of spending. When the options are before us, we shall decide how best we can cut back several hundred million pounds on defence expenditure.
As I said, the economic difficulties form part of the background, but so does the military threat which makes that defence effort necessary.
The Soviet Union and its allies are participating in talks with the Western allies on a variety of crucial issues, not- ably in the Conference on Security and
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