HC Deb 06 December 1948 vol 459 cc8-10
10. Mr. Platts-Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will instruct the British delegation at U.N.O. to support the application for admission to the United Nations which has been submitted by the State of Israel.

Mr. Mayhew

No, Sir. His Majesty's Government do not wish to exclude the possibility of Jewish entry into the United Nations at some stage, but they regard the present application as premature and hard to accept in view of the fact that the future of Palestine is still being discussed by the Assembly and that no frontiers have yet been drawn in Palestine.

Mr. Platts-Mills

As the war which the Foreign Secretary set on against the Jews in Palestine has met with the failure it so richly deserved, and as the State of Israel has emerged and is now established and will not be altered by the Foreign Secretary, is it not high time that the right hon. Gentleman pocketed his prestige and thought a bit about world peace and joined with the majority of the United Nations?

Mr. Mayhew

I know that, with my right hon. Friend, I resent many of the assumptions in that supplementary question, and I have nothing to add to the answer I have given.

Mr. Norman Smith

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the State of Israel is obnoxious and odious to most British working men?

Lord John Hope

Is not the Question and the subsequent performance of the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. PlattsMills) likely to give a wholly wrong and mischievous impression to the United States of public opinion in this country?

Mr. Gallacher

In view of the fact that sooner or later the State of Israel must be recognised would not the Minister agree to the decisions of Labour Party Conferences, keep the pledges given, and make the recognition sooner rather than later.

Mr. Frank Byers

While dissociating myself from what has been said by the hon. Member for Finsbury (Mr. Platts Mills), may I ask the Government to reconsider this matter, because many people are anxious to see an equitable solution arrived at between the Arabs and Jews, and they believe it can only be done if the Israeli application is supported at United Nations and we can have equality in the discussions?

Mr. Mayhew

I am aware of the views of the hon. Member and his supporters about getting an equitable solution. The point is how we can get an equitable solution. It is not necessarily the case that we should be helping by taking the action suggested.

Mr. S. Silverman

In view of the very long-standing policy of the Labour Party in this matter, will my hon. Friend take the opportunity of repudiating the suggestion made a moment or two ago that the State of Israel is obnoxious to British working men?

Mr. Norman Smith

The hon. Gentleman should ask his constituents.

Mr. Mayhew

A whole number of insinuations seem to have been made in supplementaries, and I entirely repudiate many of them.

Mr. Ivor Thomas

Would it not be anomalous as well as premature to admit Israel to the United Nations when Eire, Portugal, Italy, Transjordan and Ceylon are still waiting?

Mr. Mayhew

There are certain States with much stronger claims than Israel.