HC Deb 04 March 1935 vol 298 cc1555-6
12. Mr. GRAHAM WHITE

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will arrange for a copy of the proces verbal of the present meeting of the committee of the Disarmament Conference to be placed in the Library of the House of Commons?

Sir J. SIMON

The proces-verbaux of the meetings of the Committee are first circulated to delegations for their approval and at present only exist in a provisional form. As soon as they have been approved and are available in their final form I will gladly accede to the hon. Member's suggestion.

13. Mr. WHITE

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can state which of the States represented on the committee of the Disarmament Conference are in favour of the American plan for international inspection of armament factories and which are opposed to it?

Sir J. SIMON

The Article in the United States draft dealing with inspection was amended to include a new provision for local inspection as recently as the 26th February. Until this Article as amended, and any further amendments which delegations may have to propose, have been considered and discussed in subcommittee, it is clearly impossible to make a statement as to the attitude of individual States.

14. Miss CAZALET

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will give the reasons why the British Government have raised objections to the proposals in the American draft convention for the control of armament manufacture by inspection, and has proposed instead the method of annual returns presented by each Government to the bureau at Geneva?

Sir J. SIMON

The view of His Majesty's Government in regard to local inspection in connection with agreed limitation of armaments remains unchanged, but the Draft Convention to which my hon. Friend refers has nothing to do with arms limitation, and in the opinion of His Majesty's Government simpler and less elaborate methods of compiling results are to be preferred than would be suitable when the due observance of agreed arms limitations has to be checked.