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Mr Stuart, HKIOD Mr Hickman, SPD Mr Wright, MED Mr Goodison, SEED Mr Thomas, SWED Mr Carless, LAD

Mr Cox, WLAD

Mr Preston, Caribbean Dept

Mr Chalmers, SAD

Mr Ewans, EAD

Nr Squire, SEAD

cc Mr Thomson

Kr Cable

Mr McLaren

SECRET

See Minute

to M. Jackson

P/A Des

DEFENCE REVIEW NON-NATO COMMITMENTS

1.

2.

I attach:-

(a)

A record of the Sub Committee's meeting of 2 October

(b) An ICD draft of the Parliamentary Statement mentioned

in paragraph 3 of the record at (a)

(c) A revised timetable for non-NATO consultations. To

I should be grateful if you could let me know as soon as possible:-

- Fall 1922)

(i) Whether you have any amendments to suggest to the revised

timetable.

(ii) Any comments on the draft Parliamentary Statement, partic-

ularly paragraph 5. My own view is that it would be wrong in this Statement to imply that decisions on our commitments outside NATO are less subject to the views of our allies than our commitments in NATO. This is not as a general principle the case, even though it may be so for some non- NATO commitments. I should therefore propose to seek the omission of the words "Provisional decisions on these reductions have been na de" at the beginning of the penultima te sentence of paragraph 5 and the addition of the remainder of this sentence to the previous sentence. I would also suggest adding at the end of the ellided sentence the words "wherever their interests would be affected". Because consultations with our non-NATO allies cannot all take place simultaneously, as they can with our NATO

SECRET

/allies