EXPLORATION ONLY

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 78, 1 April 1936, Page 11

EXPLORATION ONLY

THE STAFF TALKS

BRITISH CABINET DECISION

LONDON, March 30.

The diplomatic correspondent of "The Times" says that at a meeting of Cabinet today Ministers expressed anxiety that the scope of the Franco-British staff talks may be too wide, and accordingly decided that the delegates be instructed not to exceed an exploratory agenda. There was general Cabinet agreement that in order to avoid the risk of talks becoming too wide, the British delegates should be strictly tied to a precise agenda which they must not exceed, even in exploratory discussions. All decisions would rest with Cabinet.

Declaring that French generals were frequently politically-minded, whereas British generals were not 'concerned with politics, Lieutenant Commander Fletcher (Labour, Nuneaton), in the House of Commons, suggested that British generals would thereby be placed at a disadvantage and urged that the British representatives in the staff discussions should be accompanied by Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for Coordination of Defence, or any other Minister.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin, replying in the negative, said that a Minister's presence might lend importance which the conference did not possess, and the technical talks might become more serious. He added that the technical talks would not mean definite commitments until Cabinet considered them.