§ 7. Mr. Croninasked the Lord Privy Seal whether, in support of a policy of controlled disarmament in an agreed area of central Europe, Her Majesty's Government will make proposals to their allies towards this end.
§ Mr. HeathI would refer the hon. Gentleman to the Answer I gave to the hon. Gentleman the Member for Lewisham, South (Mr. C. Johnson) on 15th November.
§ Mr. CroninWould not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the negotiations on Berlin are more likely to be satisfactory if they form part of a general discussion on controlled disarmament and disengagement in Central Europe?
§ Mr. SwinglerWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the Question?
§ Mr. HeathI must apologise to the House in that I read out the Answer which was really meant for Question No. 8. With permission, I will now answer Question No. 7. That Answer is: I have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said yesterday in answer to the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. A. Roberts).
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that the hon. Member for Loughborough (Mr. Cronin) should have an opportunity to ask a corrective supplementary question.
§ Mr. CroninIs the Lord Privy Seal aware that his answers to Questions of this nature are usually so vague that it does not particularly matter which Question he answers?
§ Mr. HealeyCan the right hon. Gentleman at least tell the House whether the Government would support any initiative, taken in negotiation with the Soviet Government on the Berlin question, to discuss also the question of security in Central Europe?
§ Mr. HeathWe discussed this matter at some length in the foreign affairs debate a few weeks ago, when I made the position quite clear. There is a later Question on the Order Paper concerning the general question of negotiations on Berlin.
§ Mr. P. Noel-BakerIs it not becoming plainer every day that the great anxiety of the Russians over German rearmament is the central problem of Berlin?
§ Mr. HeathI would not entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman's analysis, but we are dealing with Berlin in later Questions.
§ Mr. M. FootSince the debate on foreign affairs, there have been a large number of statements in the American Press saying that there has been an agreement between President Kennedy and Dr. Adenauer that all ideas of a controlled area of disarmament should be abandoned and should not be introduced into any negotiations about Berlin. Have the Government had anything to say to the American Government on that matter?
§ Mr. HeathI cannot comment on the discussions which were carried on between Dr. Adenauer and President Kennedy.
§ Mr. SwinglerWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the question? Have the Government worked out or made any proposals about a zone of controlled disarmament since the Prime Minister put his name to the plan in the communiqué he issued with Mr. Khrushchev?
§ Mr. HeathDuring the conference in 1959 in which the peace plan was produced, this matter was an essential part of the plan as a whole. That has always remained the British position.