§ Q6. Mr. Wyattasked the Prime Minister whether he will propose to other Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth the establishment of a Commonwealth defence force to deal with emergencies in Commonwealth territories when so requested by the Commonwealth Government concerned.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not think that it would be practically or politically feasible to have a single defence force representative of the whole Commonwealth to act rapidly in an emergency. But Britain already has special defence links of various kinds with all Commonwealth countries. Canada is a fellow-member with us in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and in the Far East a Commonwealth Strategic Reserve of land, sea and air forces from Britain, Australia and New Zealand has been constituted since 1955.
The British Government would welcome joint defence arrangements between Commonwealth Governments in other regions of the world, and would be glad to consider participation in them where this was the wish of the Commonwealth Governments concerned.
§ Mr. WyattWould it not be a good idea to try to get even token representations from other Commonwealth countries 979 when these emergency actions have to be undertaken, so that any charge of neocolonialism will have much less validity and we might be able to establish a set of principles stating in what circumstances we intervene in the affairs of other Commonwealth countries?
§ The Prime MinisterI agree with the hon. Member, but I think that this is better organised on a regional basis than in the form which he suggests, of a token Commonwealth force.
§ Mr. P. WilliamsDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the Simonstown base agreement is of supreme importance to Commonwealth defence and that we should do nothing to prevent the South African Government from arming itself for self-defence purposes?
§ The Prime MinisterThat is a wider subject. The Question deals with a Commonwealth defence force.
§ Mr. GrimondWould the agreements to which the Prime Minister referred earlier, in answer to the hon. Member for Bosworth (Mr. Wyatt),—with and between various Commonwealth countries—cover the type of action taken recently, which is internal action in a particular Commonwealth country?
§ The Prime MinisterThis is a situation with which we have not been faced before in the Commonwealth. The arrangements which we have with other Commonwealth countries by and large deal with external aggression.