§ 48. Mr. Swinglerasked the Prime Minister if he has received a reply to his letter of 14th June to Marshal Bulganin; and if he will make a statement.
§ 51. Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement on his recent exchange of letters with Mr. Bulganin.
§ The Prime MinisterThe text of Mr. Bulganin's reply, which I received on the 22nd of July, has now been published. It is being carefully studied.
§ Mr. SwinglerDoes the Prime Minister consider that this correspondence is likely to yield fruitful results, and would not he now consider, as an alternative, a direct approach to the Soviet Prime Minister to discuss those matters upon which agreement seems possible?
§ The Prime MinisterWell, Sir, I did not initiate this correspondence. A letter was sent to me, and I did my best to answer it with, I think, courtesy and clarity. Now another letter has been sent to me, and I think that courtesy demands that I should reply to it.
§ Mr. HendersonIs it the Prime Minister's view that this public exchange of letters between himself and the Soviet Prime Minister is preparing the ground for a future Summit Conference?
§ The Prime MinisterI would not like to commit myself to that. I received a letter, which is published, and I think that it is my duty to make a proper reply to it.
§ Mr. SwinglerThe Prime Minister did not answer the last part of my supplementary question. Whatever he thinks about this correspondence, would he now consider making a direct approach to the Soviet Prime Minister for the purpose of discussion instead of an exchange of letters—discussing directly those matters upon which it seems likely that agreement might be reached?
§ The Prime MinisterThat is quite a different matter from that raised in the Question on the Order Paper.