§ 46. Mr. Brockwayasked the Prime Minister what official representations he has received from the Federal Government of Nigeria regarding the projected atomic test by the French Government in the Sahara.
§ 57. Mr. Wadeasked the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Federal Government of Nigeria with regard to the expected effect upon that territory of the proposed atomic test by the French Government in the Sahara.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Federal Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar, and three of his colleagues came to England in September to explain to me Nigerian anxieties about the proposed tests. I hope the information I was able to give them, together with what they heard and saw on a visit to Harwell and the arrangements we are making to help monitor radioactivity in Nigeria, will have helped to allay some of these anxieties.
§ Mr. BrockwayIs it true to say that this is not only a matter of the safety of the fall-out—in respect of which scientists differ—but also a matter of the resentment of African countries that these tests should take place in their continent at all, when the nations concerned have had no responsibility for 202 this instrument of annihilation? If this test is so safe, would it not be possible to conduct it in one of the stations of the other N.A.T.O. countries, and not on the continent of Africa?
§ The Prime MinisterThere are two points of anxiety here. The hon. Gentleman is quite correct in referring to one, which is the purely technical one, but on that I think it is very clear, from all the technical advice, that the possible health hazards are very small indeed. Other experiments of this kind have taken place much nearer existing populations. The other anxiety is what one might call the political or even emotional anxiety. There I feel that by far our best hope of getting what we all want is to press forward with the long but still not unhopeful negotiations which are going on at Geneva, and to reach finally a position in which the three great nuclear Powers agree to stop tests by an international agreement which contains an effective system of control, and then to get other Powers to join with them in adhering to that agreement.
§ Mr. WadeIn view of what the Prime Minister has said, does he agree that the main issue is not the degree of fall-out or the extent of the area affected, but the fact that this is an affront to African feelings, which may have serious consequences? I recognise that Britain is not in a very strong position to be able to advise, since France is merely copying Britain in the independent manufacture of the bomb, but can the Prime Minister say whether any effort is being made by Her Majesty's Government to try to persuade the French Government to forgo this test in the Sahara?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman is not correct about the main anxiety. The main anxiety shown by the Ministers concerned—and this is why they were grateful for the information I got the leading scientists in this country to give them—was definitely concerned with the health risks. I think that that anxiety has now been largely allayed, although it is still the subject of debate in the United Nations. I think that it has been largely allayed, for practical purposes. I agree that the best thing now is to concentrate upon concluding an agreement by which tests 203 should be brought to an end by the three great nuclear Powers, adhered to—we hope—by other Powers.
§ Mr. GaitskellIs not the main anxiety that, following the example of the French Government, there will be a spread of nuclear tests and weapon production to more and more countries? Can the Prime Minister say what is the attitude of Her Majesty's Government to the proposed French test? Are they for it or against it?
§ The Prime MinisterThe main anxiety is that it will spread. That is why we want to get an agreement at Geneva to which other countries will adhere.
§ Mr. GaitskellIn that case, have the French Government been invited to join in the proposed agreement at Geneva?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. The first thing to do is to get Russia, the United States and Britain—who are the leading Powers in this form of armament—to make an agreement themselves. If they succeed in doing that, as I hope they will, they will be in a strong position to ask other nations to adhere to it.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIs it not worthy of note that widely respected and democratically-elected African leaders of the French community have no misgivings about this test and have expressed themselves in favour of it?
§ Mr. BevanIs it not correct to say that some of the technical advice presented to the Government on this matter is to the effect that although some African territories, such as Nigeria, may not be unwholesomely affected by the result of the fall-out, the prevailing winds are such that it might affect the Sudan?
§ The Prime MinisterNo. When one considers the height which this fall-out reaches one appreciates that the prevailing winds at a low level are not so important. It is clear that this test is a very small medical risk. I think that it is negligible in relation to the amount of this material which now exists in the air. What we already have is minimal. The arguments which have been produced are quite overwhelming. But it is also true that we have to bear in mind the political or emotional side, and I still think that the best hope of progress 204 is to get agreement among the three nuclear Powers, and then to ask other Powers to adhere to the agreement.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The Colonial Secretary.
§ Mr. BrockwayOn a point of order. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Prime Minister's Answer, I beg to give notice that at the earliest possible opportunity I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment.