§ 73. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Minister of Defence what further reductions, following the recently announced reductions in the active strength of the Soviet armed forces, Her Majesty's Government propose to make in the overall Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, including Colonial Forces.
§ Sir W. MoncktonAs has already been announced, Her Majesty's Government are engaged in reducing the strength of the United Kingdom Armed Forces to 700,000. Their present strength is some 772,000. which is in itself a reduction of 50.000 from the figure at 1st April last year.
Her Majesty's Government welcome the announced intention of the Soviet Government to reduce the strength of the Russian armed forces. They will themselves continue to ensure that the strength of the Forces is no greater than is essential to meet the commitments which they are required to carry out.
The primary purpose of Colonial Forces is the maintenance of internal security, and I do not think that reductions in the strength of the Soviet forces are a factor which needs to be taken into account in this context.