Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Harvey and Steve McCabe

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick Harvey]

Yes, I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. Special Christmas packages are going out to all forward operating bases and patrol bases. In most cases there is a chef on site and proper catering facilities to ensure a Christmas lunch. That will not be possible for a small number of people in very remote locations, but even in those cases, special Christmas provision is being made.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

For purposes of comparison, will the Minister tell the House how much will be spent on food and entertainment for Ministry of Defence Ministers and officials over the same period?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Harvey and Steve McCabe

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

11. What procedures exist to ensure that British military equipment used in operations abroad does not fall into the hands of others.

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Nick Harvey)]

Robust accounting and security measures exist to prevent the loss of equipment through theft. In the rare event that equipment is damaged and cannot be recovered because of a risk to life or likely loss of further equipment, it is destroyed to prevent it from being used by others.

[Steve McCabe]

I thank the Minister. In the light of his response, can he say anything more about the announcement at the weekend of a £1 million fund to stop weapons proliferation in Libya? Does that fall within his domain, and exactly what is that money going to be used for?

[Nick Harvey]

The concerns that we have in Libya do not relate to our own equipment that our troops have used, but relate to a proliferation of equipment that we believe may now be at large in Libya, much of it having been previously held by the Gaddafi regime. It is in the interests of everyone around the globe that that situation is contained and controlled as quickly as possible, and we have sent personnel out to assist the new Government in Libya in getting those munitions under control.