§ 41. Captain GARRO-JONESasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can lay Papers to inform the House of the present position and prospects of the disarmament negotiations or, alternatively, to indicate any approximate time at which the full conference may be expected to assemble?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONI think there would be little advantage in laying Papers at this stage, particularly since fairly full reports of the proceedings have appeared in the Press. I fear that the work of the committee is not sufficiently advanced to enable even an approximate date to be fixed for the opening of the Disarmament Conference.
§ Captain GARRO-JONESIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the Sub-Commissions 670 appointed by the Preparatory Commission have not yet answered the first question which they set themselves, namely, "What are armaments?" and if it takes 12 months to answer that question, how long will it take to arrive at some sort of conclusion?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONThe very fact that the work is not completed yet makes it all the more reasonable not to lay Papers.