§ Q1. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Prime Minister what recent proposals he has received from Mr. Khrushchev on the responsibility for garrisoning West Berlin; and what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government with regard to this matter.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)I have not received any recent proposals from Mr. Khrushchev on this subject. The Government's position is, as it has always been, that the Western garrisons are in Berlin by right.
§ Mr. AllaunHas the Prime Minister read the suggestion in Mr. Khrushchev's New Year message, which he repeated later in Berlin, that the Western troops might remain in Berlin under the United Nations flag? Will he pursue this new and reasonable compromise in order to end a dangerous situation?
§ The Prime MinisterI would not necessarily reject the idea of a United Nations presence in Berlin, provided it did not conflict with the three objectives which have been stated many times to be the essentials of the Western case. They are the presence of Western troops, freedom of access and freedom of West Berlin to choose its own way of life.
§ Mr. W. HamiltonWill the right hon. Gentleman make the counter-proposal that the troops in East Berlin should also be under United Nations auspices?
§ The Prime MinisterI think that would be a very practical proposal.
§ Mr. WarbeyWhen the Prime Minister says that Western troops are in Berlin by right, does he mean that 'they are there by any other right than that of conquest?
§ The Prime MinisterThey have had an established right for many years and it is one which, until some solution can be found, supports the right of the people of West Berlin to their own way of life.