Mr Major’s Comments on Scotland – 29 January 1993

Below is the text of Mr Major’s comments on Scotland, made during his visit to Scotland on 29th January 1993.

QUESTION:

[The Prime Minister was asked when a decision would be made on Rosyth].

PRIME MINISTER:

Well, there are a number of matters still to be considered. The Ministry of Defence are looking at it. I think there will be a decision before long, but I can’t yet give you a precise date.

QUESTION:

[The Prime Minister was asked for a timescale on the decision].

PRIME MINISTER:

No, I’m not going to give you a time-scale. There are many important things to consider. It’s an extremely important decision for Scotland, it’s an extremely important decision for the West Country. It’ll need very careful consideration. As soon as we have made our decision, we’ll announce it, but I’ve no intention of indicating precisely when that will be.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked about his stock-taking exercise].

PRIME MINISTER:

Well, we are moving towards a conclusion with that now. It’ll still be a few weeks, but we’re beginning to reach final decisions on that and I hope that will be available before too long.

QUESTION:

[Mr Major was asked why it was taking so long].

PRIME MINISTER:

It’s been very widespread. I think the important thing about the exercise is to make sure we reach satisfactory conclusions after wide-ranging consultation. That’s what we’ve sought to do. I dare say, if we’d brought forward an answer very speedily, an appropriate criticism would have been, ‘You haven’t had time to consider it’, so we’ve taken our time.