§ 43. Mr. Youngerasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation why Her Majesty's Government did not support the Convention on Stowaways, drafted at the tenth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law in Brussels.
§ Mr. NeaveHer Majesty's Government did not support the Convention on Stowaways drafted at the tenth session of the Diplomatic Conference on Maritime Law because they considered that the Convention would be less satisfactory in practice than the existing arrangements.
§ Mr. YoungerIs the Minister aware that that is an extremely uninformative Answer? Is any principle at stake here? In fact, was there not a considerable majority in favour of the Convention and were we in the minority position?
§ Mr. NeaveI cannot answer the last part of the supplementary question, but I will look it up and send the answer to the right hon. Member. There are technical immigration considerations involved which are properly a matter for my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. We considered that the Convention would be likely to result in an increase rather than a reduction in the number of stowaways coming to this country.