§ 46. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Prime Minister what proposals he is making to meet President Eisenhower in the near future.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerI have been asked to reply.
I would refer the hon. and gallant Gentleman to the reply given to the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Rowley Regis and Tipton (Mr. A. Henderson) last Tuesday.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIf the Prime Minister's efforts to see the President before he returns from Jamaica prove unsuccessful, would it not be desirable for the Lord Privy Seal to seek a personal interview with the President? Are there not many things which he could explain to the President with greater likelihood of success than the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary?
§ Mr. ButlerI would not accept the inference from the hon. and gallant Gentleman's question, nor would I say that my right hon. Friend is making particular efforts in this direction. His object is to come back to this country at the end of his three weeks' rest. The position about a meeting with the leaders of the American nation, including the President, is a matter which must be left to the heads of the Governments concerned, as I said to the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Rowley Regis and Tipton, who asked the Question originally. Further, I should like to add that there is, I think, a very satisfactory contact which will go on this week between two very prominent American leaders, namely, the Secretary of State and the Secretary to the Treasury, and three of the major members of the British Cabinet, on N.A.T.O.; so there is no lack of contact between the United States and British Governments.