HC Deb 26 November 1956 vol 561 cc25-6
16. Mr. Mikardo

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what protests he has received from the Government of the United States of America about the use of arms for purposes for which they were not intended; and whether he will make a statement.

Commander Noble

None, Sir. With regard to the second part of the Question, I have nothing to add to the statements made by my right hon. Friends the Minister of Defence on 3rd and 14th November, and the Secretary of State for War on 20th November.

Mr. Mikardo

Since that statement said that we could not honour this Agreement because we could not disentangle one set of arms from another, does not that imply that Her Majesty's Government have entered into an agreement which they knew they were physically incapable of carrying out whilst knowing that this was the case? Further, may I ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether he has seen the report from Israeli sources that more than half the tanks they have captured in the Sinai Desert were not Russian but British?

Commander Noble

I think that those points are for my right hon. Friends. I have answered the Question.