HC Deb 22 February 1961 vol 635 cc494-5
15. Mrs. Hart

asked the Lord Privy Seal if Her Majesty's Government will propose at an early meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations that a committee should be set up to consider the possibilities of preparing a United Nations' plan for an area of disengagement in Europe.

Mr. Heath

No, Sir.

Mrs. Hart

Would not the Lord Privy Seal agree that the centre of Europe is an area within which there is the greatest danger of a war beginning which could end in a nuclear war? Therefore, is not this a specific problem which needs specific attention? Will not the Government make such a proposal as a preliminary contribution paving the way for a period when agreement on such a proposal might be reached?

Mr. Heath

The Government cannot accept any such proposal for a study of disengagement, because they believe that disengagement itself actually increases the danger through the creation of a vacuum in an important area like Europe. It is quite different from disarmament or any form of controlled armaments.