Speaking during the flight from Hong Kong to Washington, Mrs Thatcher told the Press Association that there was no split between herself and Mr Reagan over star wars technology. The freedom of the West, she said, “depends upon the strength of the alliance between Britain, Europe and the US” .
Mrs Thatcher insisted that she was not out of step with the Americans on this issue. “The Soviet Union knows full well that I would be very careful not to get out of step with them. They are our greatest allies, the lynch pin of freedom and NATO, and we have to stand together” .