§ 17. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many British officers and men took part in a recent exercise on the River Elbe on or about 18th October; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. G. W. ReynoldsI would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Zilliacus) on 7th November.
§ Mrs. ShortDoes not my hon. Friend think it absolutely disgraceful that 421 British troops should be used in this way to violate the frontier of a friendly State which is a valued trading partner of ours? Is this what British taxpayers pay for troops to be kept in West Germany for? Will my hon. Friend give an undertaking that, under no circumstances, will British troops be used in this provocative way again?
§ Mr. ReynoldsI regard it as disgraceful that hon. Members should allege that British troops have violated the sovereignty of another country when, of course, no British soldier did violate the sovereignty of any other country. It is, of course, our responsibility to maintain and keep properly marked the border between the two zones of Germany.