§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will press inside the United Nations for the implementation of the proposal approved by the United Nations General Assembly for a 10 per cent. reduction in the military budgets of States which are permanent members of the Security Council and the allocation of part of the funds saved to aiding the developing nations.
§ Mr. TomlinsonHer Majesty's Government did not support the United Nations General Assembly resolution of 1973 in these terms, because it ignored the different bases on which military budgets are calculated and the absence of adequate information on the budgets of some states. However, we supported the 1975 United Nations General Assembly resolution which commissioned a study of how military budgets could be compared, as a preliminary to considering their reduction. A British expert participated in that study. We also supported the 1976 United Nations General Assembly resolution inviting comment on the study.