HC Deb 19 December 1960 vol 632 cc870-1
41. Mr. Brockway

asked the Lord Privy Seal for which nominations for the non-permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations the United Kingdom delegation voted; which were elected; and how many votes each received in the last ballots when votes were recorded.

Mr. Heath

The ballots for these elections are secret and I cannot therefore reveal how the United Kingdom delegation voted.

Chile and the United Arab Republic were elected for two-year terms, each with 74 votes, to replace the Argentine and Tunisia respectively. Turkey, which also received 74 votes, was elected to serve during the year 1961, to replace Poland.

Mr. Brockway

In view of the fact that The Times and many other newspapers have given details of these votes, is the right hon. Gentleman in a position to deny that the British vote was given for Portugal, which denies all our democratic principles both in Portugal and in its colonial administration?

Mr. Heath

With great respect to the hon. Member, I think he is mistaken in saying that a newspaper published the details of these votes, because they are not published in the United Nations. There were seven ballots in the particular case he has mentioned, and I do not think anyone has given the details of those ballots. It was well known, of course, that we were broadly in support of Portugal, and we did so under the arrangement by which each area of the world supports a particular country that is generally agreed. We adhered to that arrangement.

Mr. Healey

Is it not increasingly obvious that all these so-called gentlemen's agreements, frequently honoured in the breach by Her Majesty's Government in the case of the East European seat, are totally out of date and that we shall get no order in the Security Council until the Peking Government is seated there and the Afro-Asian countries get the representation which they deserve in the light of their position in the Assembly?

Mr. Heath

That is a much wider question.

Mr. Callaghan

Did the British Government give their vote to Portugal in return for the vote Portugal gave us on the resolution on South-West Africa yesterday when we were in a minority of three? How does the Minister explain this link-up in a situation in which he as a member of the Government promised us that the Government would take action in the United Nations and then failed to vote yesterday?

Mr. Heath

That is a different question.