HC Deb 04 July 1961 vol 643 cc1239-41
40. Mr. Longden

asked the Prime Minister whether, in his diplomatic intercourse with other heads of allied Governments, he will consider as a possible solution to the problem of the Soviet zone of Germany the suggestion first put forward in this House by the hon. Member for Hertfordshire, South-West on 12th May, 1960, namely, that it should become a separate state having a reunited Berlin as its capital whose independence and neutrality are guaranteed by the Western Powers and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Austrian model.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

Our policy towards Germany and Berlin remains as stated in the Western Peace Plan which was put forward at the Geneva Conference of Foreign Ministers in 1959, and which remains allied policy.

Mr. Longden

Does my right hon. Friend recall that Chancellor Adenauer is reported to have said some months ago that if we can help them"— that is, the East Germans— to live better and more freely, then that is more important than anything else."? Does my right hon. Friend agree that this solution, or some such solution as this, would reunite Berlin in freedom, would not impair N.A.T.O. in any way, and would provide a cushion of reassurance between the Soviet Union and Berlin, on the one side, and the Federal Republic of Germany on the other? Would he be prepared to look at this again?

The Prime Minister

No; because the Western Peace Plan is really a phased programme for German reunification. My hon. Friend's proposal in effect rules out reunification.

Mr. S. Silverman

Is it true that the proposals on which the Western allies now appear to be standing amount to this, that the Potsdam Agreements are obsolete in every part of Germany except Berlin?

The Prime Minister

No. The problem confronting us is a difficult and tangled one. It will require a considerable degree of agreement between all the allies. I do not think that it would be in the public interest for me to comment upon what the hon. Gentleman has said; I do not think that it would help to solve our difficulties.