DISARMAMENT

HC Deb 03 May 1965 vol 711 cc911-2

24. Mr. A. Henderson

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make a statement on the recent discussions on the disarmament problem.

45. Mr. Philip Noel-Baker

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proposals Her Majesty's Government have made to the United Nations Disarmament Commission now sitting in New York; and whether he will make a statement.

Mr. M. Stewart

The United Nations Disarmament Commission now meeting in New York provides an opportunity for a general debate on disarmament questions. In his speech to the Commission on 28th April, my noble Friend the Minister of State with special responsibility for disarmament explained the directions in which we believe that progress ought to, and could, be made in the disarmament field. Our objectives include an agreement on the non-dissemination of nuclear weapons, the extension of the partial nuclear test ban treaty to include underground tests, and President Johnson's proposal for a freeze of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles, which might perhaps be combined with the destruction of some of these weapons.

We hope that the general debate in the Disarmament Commission will be followed by an early resumption of the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee in Geneva.

Mr. Henderson

In view of the failure to make any real progress in the disarmament negotiations, will Her Majesty's Government give serious consideration to President de Gaulle's proposal that there should be a five-nuclear-Power conference, to include Communist China?

Mr. Stewart

I have considered this, but, as my right hon. and learned Friend will remember from what I wrote to him on this matter, there are difficulties about it. One is the attitude of the Chinese Government themselves. The other is the resentment which this might cause among certain non-nuclear Powers. These objections do not permanently rule out this possibility, but they are at present a serious obstacle.

Mr. P. Noel-Baker

While we all want a non-dissemination pact, will my right hon. Friend recognise that it is only a short-term measure and that, so long as the arms race goes on, we shall have crisis after crisis all round the world? Will he press forward with proposals for a general disarmament treaty based on a compromise between the American and the Soviet drafts?

Mr. Stewart

My right hon. Friend will notice that I mentioned non-dissemination as only one of our objectives. While I agree that it is important to try to get a general treaty, it is also desirable, where there is the possibility of partial agreement, to try to get it, because every agreement one makes in that way not only has value in itself but tends to reduce the amount of mistrust and make further progress easier.

Mr. Peter Thomas

If one is to judge from the speech of the Minister of State in New York, is it not a fact that Her Majesty's Government have no new proposals to make on disarmament?

Mr. Stewart

No, Sir.