§ 48. Mrs. Castleasked the Prime Minister if he will issue a White Paper setting out details of the partition scheme for Cyprus, prepared by Her Majesty's Government.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. I think hon. Members are really making too much of this. The study to which my right hon. Friend the Colonial Secretary referred was the one mentioned as long ago as 31st May, 1957, when the Colonial Office stated that an examination of the problems which would be involved in the partition of Cyprus had been carried out by the Cyprus Government. That study showed that partition was technically possible. But it also made it clear that it would bring intolerable hardship. It would therefore be in a sense a confession of failure. That is why Her Majesty's Government have been pursuing their policy for a provisional solution which would give to the island a period of peace during which the outlines of a long-term solution could be worked out. I think there is really nothing new or of special significance in all this.
§ Mrs. CastleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that it was a newspaper very favourable to the Government, the Daily Mail, which on 12th December carried the headline "Partition Plan for Cyprus Ready?" Would the right hon. Gentleman not agree that this is bound to have a disastrous effect on the confidence of the Greek Government in the aims of the British Government? In view of that, will the right hon. Gentleman say categorically that the British Government rule out partition as a solution for Cyprus?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that the best statement I can make is what I have already stated. We would regard it as the worst possible solution but one which might be forced if nothing else can be done. We should regard it as follows, if I may use the words of my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of State for 1308 Foreign Affairs, on 25th November to the United Nations:
A measure of communal autonomy is one thing. Partition is another. There is no confusion between the two in our intentions. The partition of Cyprus would bring great misery to many people. We have never favoured it as a solution of the Cyprus problem. We do not favour it now.
§ Mr. CallaghanWhilst we welcome this somewhat half-hearted rebuke of the Colonial Secretary, will the Prime Minister also extend that rebuke to cover the statement made by the Colonial Secretary at the Conservative Party conference when he referred to Cyprus as Turkey's off-shore island? Is the Prime Minister not aware that it is not hon. Members on this side of the House who are making too much of this, but that the Colonial Secretary in his last two reported statements has come down unequivocally on Turkey's side?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman has not quoted my right hon. Friend's statement correctly. My right hon. Friend did not say that Cyprus was Turkey's off-shore island, either at the Conservative Party Conference or anywhere else. What he did was to give the different points of view and to say that to the Turks, and from the Turkish point of view, it is regarded as their off-shore island.
§ Mr. CallaghanThat being so, is it not also equally important that the Colonial Secretary should give at the same time the view of Greek Cypriots if he is going to hope to get some sort of settlement of this situation?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that both my right hon. Friend and I—and we must leave it to the judgment of the House and of the country—have struggled very hard, and not altogether without some signs of progress, to get a solution. I have tried to put the Greek view, naturally, sympathetically as well as the Turkish view. The problem before us is to try to get a settlement that would be acceptable to them all. It is no good being partisan on one side Or the other. What we are trying to do, and I think still with signs which are not altogether unfavourable, is to get that settlement.
§ Mr. DonnellyCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether any progress has been made in Paris towards holding a conference on Cyprus?
§ The Prime MinisterThere are certain discussions going on.
§ Mr. GrimondThe Prime Minister, as I understand, having ruled out partition and Archbishop Makarios having given up Enosis, cannot we go further and make a clear pronouncement that the future of Cyprus is a matter for the Cypriot people, possibly with our assistance in keeping order and with that of the United Nations and N.A.T.O. if needed, and that we have given up our claim to sovereignty over the island and our only interest is the welfare of the Cypriots themselves?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that that goes too far. We have certain duties, certain interests, and obligations and Cyprus has importance to us to fulfil our function in N.A.T.O. and defence generally. I saw the hon. Gentleman's Motion on the Order Paper.
§ [That this House is of the opinion that. Great Britain should declare that she has no desire to retain sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, except so far as is necessary to ensure the welfare of the Cypriot people, that the future of the island is a matter to be decided by Great Britain and the Cypriots; that every effort should be made not to disunite the population further; that Her Majesty's Government should grant self government to the island for its internal affairs, subject to guarantees for minorities to be enforced by Great Britain with the United Nations co-operation; and that, after a suitable and defined period, the Cypriots should he allowed to determine their own future and their relationship with the British Commonwealth and any other countries.]
§ It went too far in another direction. What is needed and what we are working for still is a plan which reconciles all the different points of view, where everybody gives up something and there is first a provisional settlement, if a final settlement cannot be got, but ultimately a final settlement which is fair to all.