§ 39. Sir H. Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will give an assurance that none of the resolutions adopted by the Council of Europe at Strasbourg will be regarded as having any effect on the policy of this country until they have been debated in Parliament and any legislation arising out of them embodied in our Statute Laws.
§ Mr. EdenParliament will be consulted in the usual way if decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe were to involve some significant modification of policy or new legislation in this country.
§ Sir H. WilliamsWill not the alleged representatives of this Parliament who voted at Strasbourg make a report to this House which did not appoint them?
§ Mr. EdenThey go, as I understand it, in a personal capacity, and the reports are furnished to the Committee of Ministers.
§ Mr. Ernest DaviesIn view of the fact that Members of the party opposite fully supported the resolution concerning the full integration and co-ordination of European transport, do the Government propose to drop the Transport Bill?
§ Major Legge-BourkeWhile welcoming my right hon. Friend's original reply, may I ask him whether he will now apply the same principle to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which has never yet been ratified?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonCould we have an answer to my hon. Friend's question? I gather that representatives of the party opposite did urge the integration and co-ordination of European transport. Cannot the Foreign Secretary, or the Deputy Prime Minister, tell us whether this very, very far-reaching proposal is not to be operated in the much more limited sphere of the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. EdenIf the right hon. Gentleman would be good enough to put that on the Paper I should be delighted to reply to it.