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in the approach which we should almost certainly have to make to our allies in the Western European Union (WEU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to obtain agreement to a measure of relief from our
commitments under the Revised Brussels Treaty and to any changes in the disposition of our forces which we might wish to propose. The report by
officials showed that three possible courses of action were open to us in
WEU:
the first was to seek release from the obligation, unique to the
United Kingdon, to maintain a specific number of troops on the continent
of Europe;
the second was to seek a large reduction in our numerical
commitment, making it clear at the same time that we did not intend to
reduce our forces to the new figure at present; the third was to seek
agreement to reduce the numerical commitment by permitting us to withdraw two brigades.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE said that the foreign exhcnage
saving resulting from the withdrawal of a third of the front line strength
of our forces in Germany, i.e. two brigades and four RAF squadrons, would
be about £12 million in 1968-69. It would be some years before permanent
accommodation for these forces could be built in the United Kingdom and the
cost of rehabilitating the necessary temporary camps would be about £22-63 million. The cost of providing accommodation for the families would be between £8 million and £20 million, depending on how far it proved
possible to meet the requirement by extra hirings and how far by purchasing
houses and mobile homes. If immediate authority were given to incur
expenditure the first unit could be accommodated in the United Kingdom in
July 1967. The withdrawal of two brigades could then be completed within
about a year.
However, it appeared that our agreement with the United
States precluded giving firm notice to the troops and families concerned
before July. If less than six months firm notice were given the individuals
concerned should be compensated for the financial losses they would sustain.
This compensation should cover losses not specifically provided for in the
regulations, as well as those which the Government was obliged to meet.
THE FOREIGN SECRETARY said that no approach should be made to WEU until
the talks with the Americans and the tripartite talks had taken place.
Decisions on the action we should take and the level of forces we should
maintain on the continent of Europe should await the outcome of these
discussions. It was important to avoid any public statement of our
intentions; if we made it clear either to the Americans or in the
tripartite talks that we intended in the circumstances to withdraw any
forces we should incur great difficulty with our allies in WEU and NATO.
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