HC Deb 19 December 1956 vol 562 cc1251-4
7. Mr. Zilliacus

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will approach the Powers that met at Geneva last year and propose joint action through the United Nations for a general settlement in the Middle East based on the principles, purposes and obligations of the Charter, with special reference to Arab-Israeli relations and the present position in Syria and Iraq.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

No, Sir. An item on the Middle East is already on the agenda of the General Assembly for discussion in the Plenary Session. As my right hon. and gallant Friend told the House on 19th November and 26th November, Her Majesty's Government will play their part as a member of the United Nations in seeking a solution to the Palestine problem on a basis of justice. No doubt the other Powers who met at Geneva will also play their part within the United Nations framework.

Mr. Zilliacus

Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman realise that "playing our part means having a policy? Will he please state what is the policy of the Government in this matter. Do not the Government realise that the whole system of alliances in the Middle East has broken down and that we cannot treat the Soviet Union as a negligible quantity and hope to get anywhere in the Middle East? Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman realise that we cannot settle Arab-Israeli relations so long as the great Powers compete for the favour of the Arabs at the expense of the State of Israel?

Mr. Lloyd

One of the best ways to try to get a settlement in the Middle East is to preserve peace—[HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."]—between the competing parties—

Mr. Zilliacus

The right hon. and learned Gentleman might have thought of that before.

Mr. Lloyd

—and we have been sufficiently criticised for doing that very thing.

Mr. Bevan

Together with the Prime Minister, the right hon. and learned Gentleman has said within recent months that the United Nations is what we can make it. My hon. Friends wish to know what initiative has been taken by Her Majesty's Government in presenting a Middle Eastern policy? Are we waiting for someone else to take the initiative now, or are we taking it ourselves? What does the right hon. and learned Gentleman mean by, "playing our part"? Are we waiting for someone else to say something and then we shall react to it, or shall we say something and make others react to what we say?

Mr. Lloyd

The way to get a settlement of the Middle East problems is to get some agreement between Israel and the Arab States. The right hon. Gentleman really should know that the worst possible way to do that is to propound the sort of settlement to be imposed on the parties. It is a matter of negotiation.

Mr. Bevan

With respect, Mr. Speaker, I have not asked the right hon. and learned Gentleman whether he has a policy to impose upon anybody else. The United Nations cannot impose a policy. What we want to know is what initiative Her Majesty's Government themselves take in the United Nations to propose a policy; or are we now sitting back in sulky silence?

Mr. Lloyd

I do not know about "sulky silence", but the right hon. Gentleman should know that there is a Resolution before the General Assembly in which the suggestion is put forward on behalf of the United States Government that a committee should be appointed by the General Assembly to seek to achieve a solution between the parties. There is not much point in appointing a committee in this matter if individual Governments are going to put forward individual solutions.

Mr. Bevan

Why not?

Mr. Lloyd

I say agan to the right hon. Gentleman that public statements are not the best way. So far as public statements are concerned, he knows that the first thing is to have peace on the frontiers. We have suggested an increase in the United Nations element to do that and we have been doing that for nearly two years. Now a United Nations Force is there. The second thing is to get a frontier agreement. Proposals were put forward. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made some in his Guildhall speech, and they were criticised by hon. Members opposite. Thirdly, there is the question of the refugees. Some solution has to be found to the problem of the resettlement of the refugees. The fourth question is with regard to the water problems. There, the proposals put forward by Mr. Johnson are acceptable to Her Majesty's Government. The difficulty is to get the parties to accept them. Clearly designed lines of policy have been indicated again and again; the difficulty is to get the parties to agree to them.

Dame Irene Ward

Is the right lion. and learned Gentleman aware that in the Middle East the Opposition is known as "Nasser's Party"? Is not it a fact that that is the way in which they have spoken today?