On 23 May 1967, Denis Healy, British Secretary of State for Defence, issues an internal memorandum about the United Kingdom’s defence policy regarding the Far East. In paragraph 17 and in the annex, the memorandum examines the political and military implications of a possible deployment of British Polaris nuclear submarines, initially assigned to NATO, to the regions East of Suez. Such a decision would run the risk of damaging the UK’s military relations with its European and American allies.