§ 33. Mr. Harold Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to what extent it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to allow diplo- 414 matic Notes by this country to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to be examined and discussed in the Permanent Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation before transmission to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
§ Mr. ProfumoThere is no set practice, but it is Her Majesty's Government's policy to consult their North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies on all matters affecting the Alliance.
§ Mr. DaviesIs the Minister aware that once again his Answer appears not to agree with the statement of M. Henri Spaak, Secretary of N.A.T.O., who said in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation that all the Notes exchanged between the Soviet Union and members of the N.A.T.O. organisation first went through the permanent Council of N.A.T.O. for consideration? Does that not mean that the sovereignty of this Parliament is very much limited and it is thus not enabled to have a clear policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union even on the Summit talks?
§ Mr. ProfumoI can only reassure the hon. Member by saying that the lines of Notes to the Soviet Government have sometimes been discussed in N.A.T.O. where they have touched the interests of the Alliance as a whole, but procedure in the Council is, of course, confidential and I am not prepared to say what has passed in any specific cases. If the hon. Member looks up the debate we had just before the Recess, he will see that it was the general agreement of both sides of the House that we should consult even more closely with our N.A.T.O. allies.