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Defence Policy

The hon. Gentleman is always very thoughtful about such matters and I have been listening to him with great interest. However, I put it to him, first, that the 80 per cent. solution is something that we are already doing—I am doing it on armoured vehicles, for example. Secondly, on separating support solutions from manufacturing, there will normally have to be a support contract with the manufacturer or design authority with the source codes, who will need a knowledge of the kit that he will be supporting—indeed, there certainly cannot be support without the consent of the manufacturer or design authority. Thirdly, licences are not a panacea for saving money, but are actually rather expensive. We wind up spending money on the licence by having to pay the licensor and also the manufacturer.