MPs in warning on military treaty

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The UK/US Defence Trade Co-operation Treaty was signed earlier this year by then Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush. However, the detailed implementing arrangements are still to be negotiated.

The Commons Defence Committee said that it was important that they were not too tightly drawn or they would "seriously blunt the effectiveness" of the treaty.

In particular, it stressed that smaller firms and major foreign-owned defence firms in the UK should not be excluded from the treaty's provisions.

The committee said that change was essential as the current restrictions on defence exports from the US to the UK were "unduly burdensome and time-consuming".

"The US and the UK are very close allies, co-operating closely on defence and security.

"Our soldiers are fighting side by side in Iraq and Afghanistan," the committee said.

"It is vital to the interests of both the US and the UK that the system should not prevent our forces from getting access to the equipment they need to fight effectively alongside their US allies in current and future operations."