HC Deb 06 April 1960 vol 621 cc385-7
20. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the new developments in the discussions on ending nuclear tests.

28. Mr. A. Henderson

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the progress made at the Nuclear Test Conference and the Ten-Power Disarmament Conference, respectively.

Mr. Profumo

With regard to the Nuclear Tests Conference, I have nothing to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 1st April.

With regard to the Ten-Power Disarmament Conference, I have nothing to add to my right hon. and learned Friend's statement in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Ashfield (Mr. Warbey) on 30th March.

Mr. Allaun

Following the Prime Minister's statement on defence and the hopeful compromises on both sides, what initiative are the Government taking to clinch an agreement? Will the right hon. Gentleman agree that, whatever risks may be involved from the danger of small secret underground tests, they are much less than the risks of continuing the nuclear arms race?

Mr. Profumo

I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman on the latter part of what he said. As regards initiative, two conferences are now taking place at Geneva and I have every reason to believe that, as a result of the talks held by my right hon. Friend and President Eisenhower, we shall be able to make progress.

Mr. Henderson

Is it not most unfortunate that the Minister of State should give a reply with the effect his original Answer had, in view of the fact that the newspapers are full almost every day of reports of what is taking place at those conferences? Will he bear in mind two considerations? First, as regards the nuclear tests conference, is it his view that it may take time to secure agreement on the length of the moratorium and the number of on-site inspections, and is there not a great deal to be said for appointing a committee of experts to investigate the matter of detection without waiting for these other questions possibly to be referred to the Summit Conference?

My Question refers also to the Ten-Power Disarmament Conference. Is it not a fact that the main difficulty in this conference is the existence of two plans? Is there not a great deal of common ground between these two plans, and will the right hon. Gentleman suggest that the secretariat of the conference be instructed to prepare one plan which could be the basis of the conference deliberations?

Mr. Profumo

I do not think that my original Answer was unfortunate. I merely said that I had nothing to add. Since the right hon. and learned Gentleman has now asked certain very detailed supplementary questions, I will try to deal with them.

On nuclear tests, I rather agree with him. In fact, this did feature in the joint statement which was issued after the Camp David talks between my right hon. Friend and President Eisenhower, and this has been put to the Soviet delegation in Geneva. We are now awaiting its acquiescence, or, at any rate, its reactions to it.

Turning to the second part of his supplementary, I agree that, on the surface, his suggestion for the Ten-Power Conference looks very ingenious. Quite frankly, I think that the conference would be more likely to make progress if it were to focus its attention on those aspects of the two plans where there seems to be some common ground rather than concoct a synthesis of the two plans which, one must admit, are really rather different.