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Defence Procurement

My point is that we must remember that investment decisions are taken at head office. If most of the relevant head offices are outside the UK, we need to bear that in mind. For its part, industry needs to accept that the current economic outlook is pretty bleak. It will have to smarten up yet further its processes, as we shall seek to secure better value for money for the taxpayer. I am concerned about the three prototype Nimrod MRA4s, and gather that BAE Systems is demanding a substantial amount of money to bring them on line. The failure of the Nimrod programme lies wholly at the company's door: it is the design authority for that aeroplane, and it has a responsibility to the nation to deliver it into service very quickly. It is hugely needed for current operations, as well as for the future. On a positive note, British industry's attainment of a record £10 billion in defence sales last year—to which the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (John Smith) alluded—under the outstanding leadership of Alan Garwood was a singular milestone. It is a tribute to the co-operation between industry and the Ministry of Defence, but that collaboration was shattered—utterly needlessly but wilfully—by the Prime Minister last July. That was an act of vandalism that I am pleased to report will be reversed immediately when the Conservative party assumes office. It is a sign of the transfer of power in this area that my question to the Ministry of Defence about how many foreign military delegations had visited UK Trade and Investment since that act of vandalism has been transferred to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.