Mr Stuart, HKIOD
Mr de Courcy Ireland, SWPD
Mr Wright, LED
Mr Goodison, SEED
Mr Thomas, SWED
Mr Carless, LAD
Mr Cox,WIAD
Mr Preston, Caribbean Dept.
Mr Chalmers, SAD
Mr Ewans, EAD
Mr Squire, SEAD
cc Private Secretary
PS/Mr Hattersley
PS/PUS
Sir G Arthur
Sir J Killick
SECRET
(179)
Mr Wilford
Mr Weir
Mr Tickell, WOD
DEFENCE REVIEW:
NON-NATO COMMITMENTS
178
MY EARLIER MINUTE TODAY
1. I have now had a preliminary discussion with the MOD (Mr Hudson, AUS Defence Staff and Mr Blanks, Head of DS 11). Their position, in the light of an internal minute by Mr Mason's Private Secretary reflecting Mr Mason's comments on the Prime Minister's minute of 11 November, is that Ministers are likely to insist on a good deal of detail in the Parliamentary statement about our non-NATO commitments. At official level they, like us, would prefer to deal with these commitments only in the most general terms and to avoid giving any details about our intentions, as proposed in the Secretary of State's minute to the Prime Minister of 7 November. But they are pessimistic about the possibility of getting Cabinet agreement to this. Although they would regret that consultations would become more apparent than real, they do not believe that they would have adequate departmental grounds at official level for contesting the Prime Minister's proposals. They feel that if this is to be done at all it would have to be done by Mr Callaghan.
2.
If details do have to be given in the statement, they are opposed to doing this on a selective basis, which the Prime Minister's minute suggests by implication might be possible. They argue that there are likely to be immediate questions in the House, either in the context of the usual short debate which would follow the state- ment or in PQs immediately afterwards, probing the Government'
SECRET
/intentions
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