HC Deb 25 July 1960 vol 627 cc1070-1
25. Mr. Swingler

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what progress has been made by his Department in the study of proposals for zones of limited arms in Europe and elsewhere.

Mr. Selwyn Lloyd

I do not know to which particular study the hon. Member is referring. On the question of zones of arms limitation, I have nothing to add to my statements in the Foreign Affairs debates on 11th February and 12th May.

Mr. Swingler

At the eleventh hour of his term of office, will not the Foreign Secretary now repent and remember the communiqué signed by the Prime Minister and Mr. Khrushchev in Moscow in January, 1959, which put forward the proposal for a study of limited arms zones as a separate means of trying to relax tension, getting East-West agreement and helping forward negotiations for disarmament? Are we to take it from his reply that this has now been completely abandoned, or was it regarded as a propaganda stunt?

Mr. Lloyd

No, the reference in the communiqué was to a joint study with the Russians, and not a study by my Department. That is another reason why I regret the fact that they have terminated the Ten-Power Conference. I had hoped, as I said earlier, that under the heading of anti-surprise measures we should have come down to a discussion, at all events, on zones of inspection.