§ Q1. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Prime Minister what steps he will take to accord with the representations he received from Members of Parliament on 2nd August asking for drastic cuts in arms expenditure much earlier than were proposed by Her Majesty's Government in the summer.
§ Q8. Mr. Parkasked the Prime Minister what action he is taking to secure a speedy and large reduction in arms expenditure.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)My colleagues and I are vigorously pursuing the Defence Review, Sir.
§ Mr. AllaunWill the Prime Minister agree that the moves so far do not meet the Parliamentary Labour Party resolution of that date? [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] Will my right hon. Friend reduce the British forces in Germany, costing us £190 million a year, which are not needed and when the German Government are cutting their arms by £80 million a year?
§ The Prime MinisterThe review is not yet completed and we cannot yet announce what action will have to be taken to relate commitments to the available resources both in real and monetary terms.
§ Mr. ParkWould the Prime Minister not accept that the very heavy strain on the economy which this level of armaments expenditure represents is proving a burden to the achievement of the Government's social programme and is intensifying our balance of payments difficulties? Will my right hon. Friend look again at the expenditure of £500 million a year on overseas bases to see whether 1228 this can be justified, either in terms of its burden on our domestic economy or by a realistic assessment of our peace-keeping operations?
§ The Prime MinisterI have made it clear a number of times that we are looking at both the foreign exchange component in this expenditure and the general burden on our resources, but we are not yet in a position to announce what our answer to this will be. As far as costs are concerned, I am glad to tell my hon. Friend that the total expenditure this year on defence is not more than two-thirds, and may be a little less, of the programme which all the arguments were about in 1951.
§ Mr. ThorpeWhile reinforcing the plea that the defence burden of about £2,000 million a year should be reduced as far as possible and as quickly as possible, may I ask the Prime Minister whether at the same time he will bear in mind the necessity of our remaining capable of meeting our obligations to our Commonwealth partners, not least the Republic of Zambia?
§ The Prime MinisterThat perhaps may come up on another Question, but so far as the wider issue is concerned we are very much alive to the need of meeting our obligations to our Commonwealth partners and to our allies. It is a question of cutting commitments to a point we can fulfil, and the commitments are highly competitive with one another.