§ Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the objectives of his Department's policies for the rest of this Parliament.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweThe chief aim of the United Kingdom's foreign policy will remain to protect our country's security and maintain peace through our membership of the North Atlantic Alliance. At the same time, we shall work for a more constructive relationship between the West and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and for concrete progress in arms control. In the enlarged European Community, of which we hold the Presidency from July-December 1986, we shall place special emphasis on the completion of the Common Market, reform of the common agricultural policy, the preservation of the open trading system and the strengthening of political co-operation. We shall fully discharge our undertaking to the people of the Falkland Islands, while continuing to seek more normal relations with Argentina. We shall continue to implement the Sino-British joint declaration on Hong Kong. With our European and Commonwealth partners, we shall work for peaceful and fundamental change in South Africa. We shall play our part in long-term development and famine relief in the poorer countries, and in combating the worldwide scourge of terrorism. We shall support all practical moves for peace and stability in regions of conflict, including the efforts of the United Nations of which we remain a committed member.