Oral Answers to Questions — European Defence Co-operation Initiative

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 June 1999.

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Photo of Mr George Robertson Mr George Robertson Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence, The Secretary of State for Defence 12:00, 21 June 1999

I welcome also the hon. Gentleman to the Opposition Front Bench, and I wish him well. I also offer him one piece of advice: before asking that type of question, he would be well-advised to read the conclusions of the Washington summit. Believe it or not, that summit was held in the capital of the United States of America and was subscribed to by the Government of the United States of America. The United States Government believe that our defence initiative—which is embraced by all our European partners—will strengthen European defence, that it will strengthen—not weaken—the alliance, and that it will do well for Europe if, in future, we have to deal with situations in which the United States does not want to be involved.