§ 3. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now make a further statement on the progress of the disarmament talks and the prospects of reaching international agreement.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydAs the hon. Member will have observed in the Press, the delegates of the United States, France and the Soviet Union have been back to their own countries for discussions. They returned over the weekend. A further meeting of the Sub-Committee is being held this afternoon. I do not think that it would be wise for me to say more today than that I believe that there are some grounds for hope that a partial disarmament agreement may be possible.
§ Mr. SwinglerIs the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware of the great hopes raised by Press reports of the American and Russian attempts to reach compromise agreements? Will the Government do everything possible in putting forward proposals now before the new talks to maximise agreement on the existing discussions?
§ Mr. LloydWe certainly do want to put forward proposals which we think will maximise agreement. That has been our whole purpose throughout these discussions.
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerIn view of the fate of partial agreements about armaments before the war, will the Foreign Secretary urge that any partial agreement made now shall be only a preliminary to a complete agreement to follow quickly?
§ Mr. LloydWe certainly would like any partial agreement that may be made to fit in to the first stage of the Anglo-Freneh plan, to which we still adhere.