HC Deb 15 June 1964 vol 696 cc924-5
23. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proposals he has for celebrating the first anniversary of the signing of the nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Mr. P. Thomas

The best way of celebrating the anniversary of the nuclear Test Ban Treaty would be to sign some further agreement in the field of disarmament, and Her Majesty's Government are working to this end.

Mr. Hughes

I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on that Reply, which I might have written myself, but is he aware that, when the Prime Minister went to Moscow to sign this treaty, he said that his favourite animal was the tortoise? Is the tortoise still at the Foreign Office, or has it been replaced by the snail and the slug so that there has been very little progress?

Mr. Thomas

There has been progress since the signing of the Test Ban Treaty. We are anxious to move ahead as rapidly as possible, but we want at the same time to move ahead as safely as possible.