§ 9. Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement about the European policy of Her Majesty's Government.
§ The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Roy Hattersley)I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statement which my right hon. Friend made to the House in the foreign affairs debate on 19th March.—[Vol. 870, c. 858–74.]
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIf it is the policy of the Government to have no United States Polaris bases, no European deterrent, and cuts in British defence expenditure, what in the Government's view is our European destiny? Is it something like that of Finland or of Czechoslovakia?
§ Mr. HattersleyAll that this Government have done over the last two months has indicated our wish to talk in terms other than the grandiloquent ones concerning destiny and more related to the realities of our situation. The realities of our situation require renegotiation of our relationship with the Community and a substantial reduction in our defence expenditure.