15—5—75

Start of British Military Pullout

The British troops withdrawal from Singapore has begun. The target is to pull out 2,250 British servicemen stationed here under the Five-Power Defence Arrangement, in four gradual phases ending on March 31, 1976. After complete withdrawal, it is expected that ships of the Royal Navy will continue to call at Singapore "in the course of deployments to the Far East". It is believed that unions representing local civilian employees of the British forces are currently consulting their employers and the Singapore government a about pending unemployment and redundancy. The main aim of the British pullout is to cut back defence expenditure to save the ailing British economy.