HC Deb 19 November 1958 vol 595 cc1147-8
38. Mr. Younger

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will authorise the British representatives at the conference at Geneva on safeguards against surprise attack to take into account the recent amendments to the Rapacki Plan put forward by the Polish Foreign Minister.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

The conference at Geneva is for the technical study of possible measures which might be helpful in preventing surprise attack. The conference will have to consider possible instruments of surprise attack, possible methods of inspecting and controlling them and the results which might be obtained from the adoption of these methods. It is not intended that they should discuss political agreements.

Mr. Younger

Would the Foreign Secretary agree that among the many aspects of this Rapacki Plan that deserve his attention is the fact that there are now suggestions about the stationing and the arming of conventional forces in Europe as well as nuclear weapons, and is not this something which has a direct technical bearing on the question of military surprise, quite apart from any political implications that it may have?

Mr. Lloyd

These ideas must be discussed in their technical aspects by the conference at Geneva, if only it can get down to the work for which it was called together.

Mr. P. Noel-Baker

May I ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman two questions? First, will the conference be free to discuss the abolition of the weapons and instruments which facilitate surprise attack? Secondly, is it not a fact that the right hon. and learned Gentleman suggested that the Rapacki Plan would be a very effective means of preventing surprise attacks in Europe and one which the conference ought to take into account?

Mr. Lloyd

I would hope that the conference will take into account all measures of suppressing surprise attack. I agree that in view of the range of bombers carrying nuclear weapons a possible method might be to consider what technical processes are possible to ensure that such bombers are not in a position to deliver a surprise attack. All these technical matters are open to discussion if only we can get the conference down to the technical discussions for which it was called.