§ Q2. Mr. Duffyasked the Prime Minister if he is satisfied with the co-ordination of policy in the fields of defence and foreign affairs; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir.
§ Mr. DuffyIs the Prime Minister aware that in many directions there are welcome signs of détente, not least in the agreement reached on Monday night between the Governments of East and West Germany? Presumably the Secretary of State for Defence was aware of them. Will the Prime Minister therefore tell the House why his right hon. and noble Friend, in a speech at Blackpool on 13th October, called for the creation of a European nuclear defence force? Do the Government intend to invite their prospective European partners to join such a force? Is this a nuclear U-turn, leading back to proliferation, or was the noble Lord merely playing Tory politics with nuclear policy?
§ The Prime MinisterThe House has already been told that there was no new statement of policy in my right hon. and noble Friend's speech to our party conference. I have repeatedly made such a statement myself, going back to the Godkin Lectures in the mid-1960s. As to détente, I welcome the agreement, which has been initialled, providing for a better relationship between the two parts of Germany. But nobody has suggested that Western Europe can therefore abandon all defence, and certainly not nuclear defence.