§ 20. Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will approach the Romanian Prime Minister with a view to making joint demands for the reduction of arms spending by both the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Warsaw Pact.
§ Mr. MulleyNo. We have strong security and economic interests in controlling increases in armaments spending and in securing balanced and verifiable reductions in military expenditures. But international agreement on such reductions requires prior agreement on how military expenditures are measured and reported. That is why the United Kingdom is playing an active part in the development by the United Nations of a standardised method for reporting such expenditures.