To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to public funds has been to date of the court case Flight Lieutenant MacDonald v. Ministry of Defence.

To date the Ministry of Defence's legal costs in the case involving Mr. MacDonald are £169,700 which includes counsel's fees. These costs reflect the legal complexity of the case brought by Mr. MacDonald.

Mr. MacDonald claimed he had been discriminated against unlawfully on grounds of sex, contrary to the Equal Treatments Directive 76/207/EEC and Section 6 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1976. On appeal to the House of Lords, the Law Lords handed down a unanimous judgment in favour of the Ministry of Defence on 19 June 2003 rejecting Mr. MacDonald's challenge to the interpretation of the Sex Discrimination Act 1976.

All attempts to settle the matter, including the offer to Mr. MacDonald to rejoin the Royal Air Force, have so far been unsuccessful.