HC Deb 04 March 1958 vol 583 cc966-7
47. Mr. Zilliacus

asked the Prime Minister whether Lord Hailsham's speech at Atlantic City, to the effect that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation and the Bagdad Pact must be maintained in order to prevent the spread of Communism in Europe and Asia, represents the policy of Her Majesty's Government.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

My right hon. and noble Friend, in a speech at Atlanta, Georgia, said that the Bagdad Pact and the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation have limited the advances of Communism in the Near and Middle East. This, happily, is a statement of fact.

Mr. Zilliacus

Is it the policy of the Government to prevent the spread of a certain ideology in other countries, even by internal action in those countries? Do the Government consider that hydrogen bombs are the appropriate instrument for conducting that policy?

The Prime Minister

That does not seem to me to arise out of the Question about what my noble Friend said. I do not know what his personal views are, but for my part I am gratified that the spread of Communism should have been prevented.