§ Mr. George Thomsonasked the Minister of State for Defence what proposals for five-power political control and command structure for the combined forces based in Singapore and Malaysia after the end of 1971 will be put before the Ministerial meeting in London in April, 1971.
§ Lord BalnielAs is stated in the White Paper, British forces deployed in the area will, along with the forces of Australia and New Zealand, come under the authority and control of an integrated command headed by an officer of two-star rank. The White Paper also makes clear that among the matters on which agreement was reached at the Five Power meeting of senior officials in January, subject to consideration by Ministers of the Fve Governments, were proposals relating to future arrangements for regular consultation between the five Governments. Until those proposals have been endorsed at the Ministerial meeting in April, it would be inappropriate for me to say anything further.