§ Mr. Lewisasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence whether he is aware that the United States Government have made an announcement that it is their intention to reduce by half this year's allocation of defence dollars to Great Britain, and that Mr. Stassen, Mutual Security Director, has officially announced an early ending of direct financial aid for defence to this country; how these announcements will affect our rearmament programme; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BirchI am, of course, aware of the proposals which have recently been made to the Congress by the United States Administration. It would be premature for me to attempt to form any considered view at present.