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Nimrod Review

My Lords, I apologise for arriving a little late after the Minister began the Statement—which of course I had read, having seen it in the Printed Paper Office earlier. Like him, I have spent a great deal of my life involved with both civil and military aviation, first in the Army and, secondly, in the United Kingdom’s commercial helicopter world. One of the organisations whose work I have sometimes been frustrated by, but mostly respect, is the Civil Aviation Authority. The Statement refers to the creation of a Military Aviation Authority. It is an abundantly sensible idea to regulate, audit and assure all aspects of military aviation. As there is to be a military representative on the board of the Civil Aviation Authority, is there to be civil aviation expertise available on the board of the Military Aviation Authority? Perhaps the noble Lord can also say whether the role of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch—which used to be part of the Department of Trade and Industry but is probably somewhere else now—will be maintained or developed to enhance the military’s ability to investigate military air accidents. The Statement makes a lot of sense in many respects but is the sort of Statement that requires time to digest. I have read a very large part of Mr Haddon-Cave’s massive report, which raises two further questions in my mind. One relates to the Statement yesterday on the Nimrod MR2, which apparently is to be withdrawn a year early. What does that mean? A year earlier than what? What will be the effect of the withdrawal of the MR2, which yesterday’s Statement said was to be done on financial grounds and had nothing to do with air safety—which I wholly respect. Is any gap in capability likely to be generated by that? Will he also say where the Nimrod R1 stands? I know that there are only three of them, but whether all three are available is a matter of conjecture. They play a vital part in our various intelligence activities.