Missile defence policy is not wishy washy says Hoon

The British Government was not being ‘‘wishy-washy’’ over its missile defence policy, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon insisted today.

He defended the UK’s stance amid claims by a senior adviser to US President George W Bush that the Prime Minister was ‘‘dodging the issue’’ by refusing to unambiguously back America’s plans for a nuclear missile shield.

Richard Perle, a consultant to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfield, said: ‘‘Basically, I think (Tony Blair) is dodging the issue.

‘‘You don’t have to have the details before you for a judgement on them.’’

He added that the Bush administration viewed the British Government’s stance as ‘‘wishy-washy and ambivalent.’’

Asked whether this description was fitting, Mr Hoon said: ‘‘No, I don’t accept that for a moment.

‘‘The Prime Minister and President Bush had an excellent meeting towards the end of February in Camp David where they discussed both the need to control the number of offensive weapons as well as defensive weapons,’’ the minister told Sky’s Sunday with Adam Boulton.

‘‘President Bush’s speech the other day concentrated on precisely that, indicating that there are a range of defensive options that the United States is considering developing whilst at the same time making clear that he intended to reduce the number of offensive weapons in the US arsenal.

‘‘The President said he would ... consult allies, including the United Kingdom, but also I think significantly including Russia before taking any decision as to how specifically to go ahead.

‘‘So therefore in the circumstances it simply doesn’t make sense for the United Kingdom to indicate its support for any particular system when the United States itself has not decided which system it intends to develop.’’

Earlier, Shadow Foreign Secretary Francis Maude said Mr Blair should make up his mind on the issue.

‘‘He should... say what we’ve said, which is if the Americans want to do this - and we think there’s a very good case for it - then we want to be part of it,’’ Mr Maude told the Sunday programme.

‘‘We want to help with it and we want to give ourselves the benefit, and the British public, of having the benefit of having protection against what is still the most cataclysmic threat of all.’’

Last week, the Prime Minister told the Commons the issue of missile shield was a sensitive issue, while his official spokesman Alistair Campbell later said the Government thought the plan was ‘‘broadly’’ a good idea.

The following day Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the Government should wait to see the details.