§ 2.55 p.m.
§ Baroness Strange asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ How many times the Prime Minister has met Mr. Gorbachev and what progress has been made in East-West relations.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne): My Lords, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister has met Mr. Gorbachev three times and will meet him again in April when he visits this country. East-West relations, like Anglo-Soviet relations, have never been better.
938§ Baroness StrangeMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for his encouraging and reassuring Answer. Does he agree that the friendly relationship between Mr. Gorbachev and my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, and also between my right honourable friend and former President Reagan, have contributed much to world peace? Does he further agree that there is likely to be a similar friendly relationship between the Prime Minister and President Bush?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I certainly agree that my right honourable friend has made an historic contribution to the present happy situation as concerns East-West relations. I am certain that this contribution will continue, not least when Mr. Gorbachev comes to this country later this year, and certainly while President Bush is the leader of the United States.
§ Lord Jenkin of RodingMy Lords, at the risk of injecting a perhaps less favourable note, has my noble friend's attention been drawn to the very dusty answer which was given to Sir Geoffrey Howe's request to the Russians for support over the Salman Rushdie affair? Does that reply from the Russians not indicate that, perestroika notwithstanding, they are still prepared to fish in some very muddy waters indeed?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I cannot claim and do not suggest that our relationship with. the Soviet Union is now perfect; far from it. I certainly agree that we are looking for a clear response from the Soviet Union in connection with the matter to which my noble friend has referred.