Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Remarks after meeting with Canadian Prime Minister (Brian Mulroney)

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Ottawa
Source: Thatcher Archive: COI transcript
Editorial comments: Around 1435 local time. It is not wholly clear where and when MT made these remarks; after lunch with Mulroney would appear most likely.
Importance ranking: Minor
Word count: 370
Themes: Foreign policy (Americas excluding USA), Law & order, Transport

I should like to say thank you and add a brief word. You know that we have been talking for quite a long time about two things, among others. First, as far as drugs are concerned, about much greater international cooperation. We passed a Law last year about being able to confiscate the proceeds of drug trafficking but first you have to find those proceeds and those who do traffic in drugs are up to every device about concealing their takings and the way in which they have put them through the system.

So in passing our own Law we made provision for reciprocal agreements with other countries so that they may make use of our Law if we sign an agreement and we of theirs so that we are able to traco the assets through their country and we are able in particular to try to trace money laundering with a view to stopping it. That is what this agreement is about and I mention it particularly because everyone should know, particularly those who use these devices that not only have we been talking about these matters, we have been passing laws through our own Parliaments and today we have [end p1] signed an agreement which will put those laws into operation in both our countries.

We talked too about deregulating many things, including air fares. As you know, air traffic is one of the most carefully regulated things and it's not easy to get an element of deregulation. Thanks to our negotiators, to the willingness of Canada and the United Kingdom believing in the same deregulation, we have now got this agreement for the airlines which are mentioned so that they can fly into any of our airports and we can fly into any of yours without extra special separate permission. Another piece of bureaucracy gone, another piece of increasing freedom which will result in far better services to ordinary people who fly the Atlantic so they will be able to come much more easily to wherever they want to come to in Canada and your people much more easily to many airports which might otherwise have been closed to you.

Two very good bits of negotiating. We have had a very good week, we have had a very good year and I hope that these two things will both help in the battle against crime and also help consumers, people who use air flights, to be able to get where they want, at the lowest possible price.

Thank you.