§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has anything to add to his comments made to the Western European Union Assembly on Wednesday 7 December concerning security of Western Europe in the light of the speech made to the United Nations by President Gorbachev on that date.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe cuts in Soviet forces announced by Mr. Gorbachev at the United Nations on 7 December represent an important and welcome first step towards securing a better balance of conventional forces in Europe, though they would still leave the Warsaw pact with superiority over the Alliance of some 2.5:1 in tanks and artillery (compared to approximately 3:1 at present). We and our allies hope to build on this hopeful development at the conventional stability talks due to start early next year in Vienna, where we will be pressing for the total and verifiable elimination of disparities in weapon systems relevant to surprise attack and offensive action.