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http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cmhansrd.htm Commons Hansard Written Answers text for Tuesday 4 Dec 2001 Laeken European Council Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the main objectives of the European Council's summit at Laeken. [18896] Peter Hain: The agenda for the European Council has not yet been finalised. But we expect it to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, and the EU follow up to the events of 11 September; review the situation in the western Balkans; debate the future of Europe and establish a convention to examine the options for the IGC in 2004; welcome progress on EU enlargement; adopt a presidency report on European defence; review progress on the Tampere justice and home affairs agenda; and note preparations for the launch of Euro notes and coins. 4 Dec 2001 : Column: 214W Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement (a) on the membership of the convention due to be established at Laeken and (b) what the Government hope to achieve at the Laeken summit. [18895] Peter Hain: Final decisions on the composition of the convention will be taken at the Laeken European Council. The convention will include representatives from national Governments, national Parliaments, the European Parliament and the Commission. The candidate states will be fully represented. The Government expect that Laeken will thus launch the European level debate about the Future of Europe. It was agreed at Nice that this debate should consider how to improve and monitor the democratic legitimacy and transparency of the EU and its institutions, in order to bring them closer to the citizens of the members states. The Government welcome this. Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the European Commission on the Laeken European Council. [19091] Peter Hain: The Government meet members of the Commission on a regular basis to discuss these and other issues. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also discussed issues to be addressed by the Laeken European Council with the President of the Commission on 15 November. Cluster Bombs Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to encourage an international ban on the use of cluster bombs. [20001] Mr. Ingram: It would not be appropriate or realistic to take steps to encourage an international ban on the use of cluster bombs. They are a legitimate weapon that provide a capability against certain targets which cannot be effectively achieved in other ways. We are aware of concerns that have been expressed about the humanitarian effort of unexploded cluster bomblets and are exploring in the context of the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) how this can be minimised. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to work to implement the recommendations of the International Committee of the Red Cross on the use of cluster bombs. [20234] Mr. Ingram: The International Committee of the Red Cross have proposed limitations on the use of cluster bombs in the context of their proposal for a protocol on explosive remnants of war to the 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, for which the review 4 Dec 2001 : Column: 224W conference will be held on 11 to 21 December. The United Kingdom will work for a positive outcome to minimise the risk to civilians from unexploded weapons, including cluster bombs. Depleted Uranium Dr. Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) for what reason test firing using depleted uranium contaminated gun barrels from Eskmeals was carried out at Shoeburyness; who authorised the transfer of the gun barrels; and if he will make a statement; [18970] (2) pursuant to his answer of 23 November 2001, Official Report, column 514W, on depleted uranium, how many rounds were fired in the tests; and how many were recovered; [18968] (3) pursuant to his answer of 23 November 2001, Official Report, column 514W, on depleted uranium, what environmental impact assessment was carried out, and by whom, before depleted uranium contaminated gun barrels from Eskmeals were used in test firing at Shoeburyness; [18969] (4) pursuant to his answer of 23 November 2001, Official Report, column 514W, on depleted uranium, who was the radiation protection adviser; for which organisation he or she worked; whether the Defence Radiology Protection Service was (a) consulted and (b) involved; and if he will make a statement. [18967] Dr. Moonie [holding answer 30 November 2001]: Test firing using depleted uranium (DU) contaminated gun barrels is required as part of the effectiveness and safety trials to determine the effect of firing a variety of rounds through worn barrels. The Challenger II tank worn barrel trial is planned to commence in January 2002. The trial involves firing a range of non-DU based ammunition natures such as high explosive and training rounds. The trial will involve the use of barrels that have not fired DU rounds as well as those that have. More recently, between 20 to 29 November, one gun barrel stored at QinetiQ Eskmeals, that had fired DU in the past, was used in a CHARM 3 Training Round (a non-DU round) trial at the Shoeburyness ranges. Test firing is being carried out at Shoeburyness because it meets the minimum firing distance required and provides a round recovery facility and a suitable cost-effective solution. There is no reason on health and safety grounds why the work cannot be carried out at this site. No specific authorisation to transfer barrels allocated to support these trials is needed. Each barrel that has fired DU in the past has a record annotated accordingly and is accompanied with appropriate precautionary advice. In the November trial, 71 rounds were fired and none were recovered. The worn barrel trial in January is planned to use 184 rounds and it is planned to recover some rounds to ascertain any effects on the round's stability and performance. Recovered rounds fired will be monitored for DU. No environmental impact assessment was undertaken immediately before the CHARM3 training round trial and none is planned for the worn barrel trial. However, a risk assessment for the routine use of DU contaminated barrels was carried out by the Department's Radiation Protection Adviser, the then DERA Radiation Protection Services, in 4 Dec 2001 : Column: 225W May 2000. Although this assessment concludes that no DU will be released from the barrel, environmental monitoring was conducted at the start, during and after the firings on 20 November. This involved a base line survey taking soil and grass samples and monitoring around the gun, passive air sampling, and a swab sample of the inside of the barrel when firing was complete. The monitoring will also be conducted in support of the worn barrel trial. The barrels used at Shoeburyness were monitored before transfer. The monitoring in this case showed that the barrels contained less than 10 kilobecquerels of DU and thus confirmed that the material presented very little risk. This conclusion is based on the generic risk assessment conducted in May 2000, which is applicable to all barrels containing less than 10 kilobecquerels of DU. Anti-war March Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on how the Metropolitan Police calculated the number of demonstrators who took part in the anti-war march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square on 18 November. [19433] Mr. Denham: The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis informs me that it is established practice to use hand tally counters to determine numbers of people 4 Dec 2001 : Column: 232W participating in marches in London. If the march enters Trafalgar Square crowd density measurements are used to reckon the numbers present. On 18 November 2001 these methods identified 12,000 people leaving Hyde Park en route to Trafalgar Square and 15,000 people within Trafalgar Square. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
