Mrs Thatcher denies she was politicking

Mrs Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservative Party, rejected charges today that she was politicking in New Zealand in favour of Mr Robert Muldoon, the Prime Minister, and his National Party Government.

Mr Wallace Rowling, the leader of the New Zealand Labour Party opposition, had said at a state luncheon in Mrs Thatcher's honour that his party accepted it was up to the British to decide their future relationship with the European Community.

At a press conference this afternoon Mrs Thatcher said her strongly worded speeches in Auckland and Wellington merely expressed things she believed. They could not be regarded as interference in the domestic political scene.