HC Deb 20 June 1968 vol 766 cc1307-8
Q5. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Prime Minister whether the public statement of the Secretary of State for Defence at Brussels on 10th May, regarding the level of forces available to the British Army of the Rhine, represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

The Prime Minister

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Allaun

Did not the Secretary of State say that this extra assignment of 20,000 men was to help Britain's connection with the Common Market? Is not that a bad reason for a bad policy? When N.A.T.O. is supposed to be considering mutual troop reductions east and west, why on earth should Britain appear to move in the opposite direction?

The Prime Minister

I have read my right hon. Friend's speech. I did not find that thought expressed on those words, but I shall look at it again. My right hon. Friend gave the reasons for this decision. With regard to mutual reductions, it is the policy of the Government, and we are pursuing it very actively, and shall be again at Reykjavik, to try to get an agreed reduction in military strength on both sides of the Iron Curtain. That is different from a unilateral reduction by the West.

Mr. Maudling

In the light of the Government's statement after the recent Kuala Lumpur conference, will the units committed to N.A.T.O. remain readily available, without inhibition for redeployment east of Suez?

The Prime Minister

That does not affect our ability to formulate a general capability in circumstances where we consider it right to make a contribution. I think the right hon. Gentleman will know that under successive Governments we have from time to time, when an im- portant Commonwealth or other commitment has to be met, drawn on troops in Germany equally with drawing on troops in this country. What my right hon. Friend said at Kuala Lumpur does not make any difference.

Mr. Shinwell

I think that every hon. Member, on both sides, will agree that we should seek a reduction of forces on both sides of the Iron Curtain, but was it nevertheless appropriate for the Minister to say that the assignment of additional forces is associated with our desire to enter the Common Market?

The Prime Minister

I said that I wanted to study the exact wording, because I had not read that into it. What my right hon. Friend was saying and has said many times in the House, and what was the basis of the defence debates this year, is that our decisions to redeploy the forces at present east of Suez will mean a heavier concentration of our defence effort on and in Europe. That was the theme of what he was saying. On the question of the mutual troop reductions, I have nothing to add to what I told my hon. Friend the Member for Salford, East (Mr. Frank Allaun).

Mr. Eldon Griffiths

In view of the tense situation in Germany and the possibility that a future American Administration might reduce its forces in Europe, would the right hon. Gentieman consider very carefully before accepting any of the advice of his hon. Friends to reduce Rhine Army?

The Prime Minister

All these matters are appropriate to collective discussion in N.A.T.O., and this very question, I am certain, will be one of the leading matters to be discussed at Reykjavik next week.