HC Deb 10 May 1962 vol 659 cc637-8
Q8. Mr. P. Noel-Baker

asked the Prime Minister whether he was consulted by President Kennedy about the United States proposals for general and complete disarmament laid before the Committee of Eighteen Nations in Geneva on 18th April; and whether he will make these proposals available to hon. Members in a Command Paper.

The Prime Minister

There has been full and continuous consultation between the United States Government and Her Majesty's Government about all the pro, posals put forward by the United States Government at the Geneva Conference. The text of their Outline Treaty has been released, and has been put in the Library.

Mr. Noel-Baker

As the Prime Minister says in his letter to Khrushchev that this is the most important and urgent of all questions in the world, is it not desirable that hon. Members should have a full context available in a White Paper with, if possible, the Russian draft of 19th March?

The Prime Minister

I am anxious to meet the House's wishes in any way we possibly can. What we are trying to do at present is to get all the documents and the official records that are being issued in their final form during the first fortnight of the conference, and these will be in the Library in the next few days. Perhaps I might later consider whether we should publish a White Paper giving all the relevant documents in a single form.

Mr. Noel-Baker

I am much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman, but is he aware that it is really impossible to follow what is going on at Geneva without the full context of the two proposals, and that one or two copies put in the Library do not meet the needs of hon. Members who desire to have the document to refer to?

The Prime Minister

I shall certainly take that into account. I think that it is a matter of deciding when is the most convenient point in the conference to publish documents, and a substantive account of what is taking place.