Skip to main content

Herbicide 2,4,5-T

Volume 981: debated on Thursday 27 March 1980

The text on this page has been created from Hansard archive content, it may contain typographical errors.

asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether the herbicide 2,4,5-T has been used by British troops in Northern Ireland;(2) when was the last time that British soldiers were involved in spraying the herbicide 2,4,5-T; and whether any longterm study has been made of the side effects that these soldiers may have suffered as a result of spraying this subtance;(3) whether stocks of 2,4,5-T are still kept by the Armed Forces to be used as a defoliant;(4) why his Department does not consider it necessary to carry out an inquiry into the health of those British soldiers who were involved in spraying 2,4,5-T during the Malayan insurgency.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 February 1980.—[Vol. 977, c. 763–4]. From the records available, British forces have not used the herbicide 2,4,5-T except for the small-scale use during the Malayan campaign. No stocks of 2,4,5-T are held by the Armed Forces for military purposes.