§ 39. Mr. Meadowcroftasked the Secretary of State for Defence what response he has given to the Gorbachev proposal to reduce the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Warsaw Pact troop strength in western Europe.
§ Mr. YoungerWe have made clear that we welcome Eastern recognition of long-standing Western concerns about conventional disarmament. While there are a number of questionable elements in the Budapest statement of 11 June—such as the presumption that parity in conventional forces already exists in the whole of Europe — we shall he considering the Eastern ideas carefully, both nationally and in the NATO high level task force. Meanwhile, there is ample time for the Warsaw pact's words to be reflected in a practical and positive way in the negotiations in Vienna and Stockholm.