§ Ms. QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if his Department intends to take steps to provide any urgent economic assistance for the Soviet Union to counteract shortages of food and consumer goods; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe are already offering the Soviet Union assistance in introducing economic reform, in particular through our know-how fund. We have not yet received a specific request for humanitarian assistance from the Soviet Union. We shall continue to pay very close attention to the Soviet Union's economic difficulties, and are sure that the EC would consider any justified request for humanitarian aid urgently and sympathetically.