§ 7. Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the number of British troops now in Singapore.
§ Lord BalnielMembers of the three Services, including Gurkhas and locally enlisted forces, stationed in Singapore on 1st June, 1971, numbered about 16,000. This figure includes personnel serving at sea.
§ Mr. DalyellWith a presence like this in Singapore, are we as a country not in a position to talk to Lee Kwan Yew seriously about the deep feelings among many people in this country over his internal policies towards political prisoners, with a possible view to withdrawal?
§ Lord BalnielThe hon. Gentleman will recognise that this falls outside the remit 618 of my Departmental responsibilities. I will, however, call the point to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary.