§ 14. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the latest disarmament proposals of the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America; and what proposals are being made by Her Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydThe latest United States and Soviet disarmament proposals have been under discussion at the United Nations. The right hon. and learned Member will have seen reports of the speech made by my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of State on 15th January, when he commented on these proposals and stated the position of Her Majesty's Government. It is our view that the various proposals put forward at the United Nations should be studied by the Disarmament Sub-Committee. This view is reflected in the procedural resolution tabled on 24th January by the United Kingdom and eleven other Powers, which was passed unanimously by the Political Committee on 25th January.
As regards the nuclear aspects of disarmament, I would refer the right hon. and learned Gentleman to the replies given by the Prime Minister in this House on 22nd January.
§ Mr. HendersonCan the Foreign Secretary indicate the intentions of the Government with regard to the recent proposal of the Soviet Union that the forthcoming meeting of the Sub-Committee should be at Foreign Minister level? What proposals are Her Majesty's Government making with a view to ending the present deadlock? Are they going to propose the achievement of a partial agreement if they cannot at present secure a comprehensive agreement?
§ Mr. LloydMy right hon. and gallant Friend made a substantial speech to the Political Committee on this matter. I would ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman to study that speech, because it set out clearly and at length the precise position of Her Majesty's Government. With regard to the question of the meeting of the Disarmament Sub-Committee, we hope that it will take place in London. The question of the level at which it should take place is still under discussion.
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerWhen does the right hon. and learned Gentleman mean to publish the minutes of the 1956 Sub-Committee meetings?
§ Mr. WarbeyWill the Foreign Secretary avoid the pitfalls of perfectionism in this matter? Is it not possible to make a start on what is already fairly common ground: namely, a thinning out of military forces in Central Europe and the establishment of aerial and ground inspection over a wide area of 2 million square miles between the Atlantic and the Vistula? Can we not get on with that?
§ Mr. LloydI certainly agree that we do not want to be perfectionists in this matter. I think there are a number of practical proposals which now seem to be more or less agreed which would enable a start to be made and I would include in those which might be possible the stationing of observer teams at various strategic points in order to observe preparations for surprise attack.
§ Mr. E. FletcherDoes the Foreign Secretary not think that we are far more likely to make really substantial progress in these disarmament talks if the next meeting takes place at Foreign Minister level?
§ Mr. LloydI have had some experience of these meetings. They happen to go on for a very long time. I certainly would not rule out the appearance of Foreign Ministers at these meetings at an appropriate time, but there is a great deal of detailed work to be done. What I would hope is that at the next series of meetings steps would be taken to see that the detailed work is done as quickly as possible. I am not sure that the Foreign Ministers are the right persons to do that.