which he read out in Berlin.
We may also expect it to
be a theme of his Chatham House speech.
Privately,
the Vice President has made it clear during his talks
so far that he has come to listen and report back and
that he has no new proposals to make at this stage.
We shall wish to ensure that Mr Bush takes the
right message back to Washington.
3. In addition to our views on defence/disarmament
issues, there is a general political point which, at the
risk of stating the obvious, it may be worth making
to the Vice President.
1983 the Alliance faces a testing time and that both in
Europe and the US there are strong political pressures to
modify existing policies and/or take new initiatives.
We are painfully aware that in
For our part we shall give high priority to close
contact and consultation.
We must resist the temptation
to make our disagreements in public.
Subjects for Discussion
4.
The meeting with the Prime Minister in the evening,
at which the Secretary of State and Secretary
for Defence will be present, will focus on defence/
disarmament issues. Briefing on this is being
submitted separately by Defence Department.
Depending
on the outcome of the discussion in OD on 7 February
the Prime Minister may also raise the question of the
Belize garrison and Central America generally.
[Cabinet Office will arrange briefing on this].
5. Since time is limited, the Secretary of State has
CONFIDENTIAL
/agreed