Mr Squire, SEAD Mr Stuart. HKIOD Mr Hickman, SWPD Mr Wright, MED Mr Goodison, SEED Mr Thomas, SWED
Mr Champion, G&GD Mr Cox, WIAD
Mr Ewans, EAD
CC:
Mr Kerr, WOD Mr Westbrook
Mr Masefield
DEFENCE REVIEW
SECRET
61
Muisto.
P.W.
ما
29/7
Gile
1. The second round of Ministerial discussion of the Steering Committee report on the Defence Review is due to take place on 31 July. The Secretary of State will require a brief. Since the Ministerial discussion this time will concentrate largely on non- NATO commitments, the PUS has suggested that the Secretary of State should be provided with a supplementary brief containing a short passage on each of these commitments.
2. I attach a copy of the relevant passages of the Steering Committee report which Ministers will be considering. I should be grateful if departments would go through their sections of the report (which in many cases contain wording that we unsuccessfully sought to change at an earlier stage) and provide short passages for the Secretary of State's brief. These should seek to explain/illustrate the amount of savings being achieved in each case (so that we can take maximum credit for what we have agreed to). Where we disagree with the report, the bricf should say why and make clear how much more or less we could agree to.
3.
Since the brief will need to be submitted on Monday evening, 29 July, I should be grateful if draft contributions could be sent to Mr Westbrook in this department, with a copy to Mr Kerr in WOD, if possible by lunch time on Monday.
These passages should be cleared with Under-Secretaries.
26 July 1974
SECRET
RL B Cormack
Defence Department