§ 36. Mr. E. L. Mallalieuasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will propose in the United Nations that a special commission be established alongside the disarmament sub-commission to study the transfer of armaments to a world security authority.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydNo, Sir. I am afraid that it would be premature to advance any proposal along these lines because the necessary conditions of international confidence do not yet exist.
§ Mr. MallalieuBut does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman agree that these two subjects of disarmament and the setting up of a security authority are very much connected and that work on one might very well help work on the other? Is it not rather a long time since the suggestion was made by the Minister of Defence that there might be a security authority set up? Had he better not do something about it lest haply some people may lose some faith in the Government's intentions?
§ Mr. LloydWhat we have been trying to do is to get a disarmament commission set up. There is no disarmament subcommission as the hon. and learned Gentleman suggests. We have had some difficulty in getting that set up. Eventually we had to resort to what I think was the rather unsatisfactory result of having all 81 members of the United Nations appointed to the Disarmament Commission. We have to see how that will work before setting up a parallel activity.
§ Mr. BevanIn a recent debate the newspapers of Great Britain gave very considerable publicity to a statement made by the Minister of Defence in which he said at the time that he was speaking only for himself and was thinking aloud. Has he stopped thinking, or is he no longer allowed?
§ Mr. LloydWhat he said on that occasion was that he was not putting forward any specific proposals.