HC Deb 15 June 1967 vol 748 cc776-9
Mr. Bessell

(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement about British subjects on board the four ships held in the Suez Canal and what provision is being made to ensure their safety.

The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. William Rodgers)

Four British ships are detained in the Great Bitter Lake together with several ships of other nationalities. There are 261 passengers and crew on board, of whom 202 are known to be British.

I have seen reports in the Press that the United Arab Republic Foreign Minister has said that the canal will remain closed so long as the Israelis are on the east bank.

The head of the United Arab Republic Interests Section in London has been summoned to the Foreign Office and told that it is intolerable that our ships should be detained in this way. We are working together with other Governments concerned and plans are being prepared for evacuation.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Ambassador in Cairo, who looks after British interests in the United Arab Republic, has told us that the passengers and crew on board are well. He is arranging for consular officers of the Canadian Embassy and the British Interests Section to make contact with the ships.

The shipping agents have told us that steps have been taken to provide the ships with food supplies.

Mr. Bessell

While thanking the hon. Gentleman for that statement, which I am sure will be appreciated on both sides of the House, may I ask him whether the Red Cross has been invited to assist in the evacuation of these British subjects, and whether he is quite satisfied that there is no possible danger to the passengers in the present situation?

Mr. Rodgers

Is it impossible to give a categoric answer to the second question, but to the best of our information, the people involved are as well as can be expected, and we see no immediate danger to them.

We have obviously to try to find the best means by which evacuation can be accomplished, if it has to be done. On these occasions, sometimes the more dramatic course is not necessarily the one which will ensure the safety of the people involved.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Has not Egypt accepted the jurisdiction of the International Court in this matter? Therefore, is it not open to Her Majesty's Government, and other Governments affected, to apply for an injunction which would compel Egypt to open the canal?

Mr. Rodgers

The question of opening the canal is somewhat larger than this specific question relating to British subjects. What I can say to the right hon. Gentleman is that this is precisely the sort of matter to which we are now trying to find a clear answer.

Mr. Paget

If the Egyptians insist upon defying international law in these matters, is there not a case for asking our Israeli friends to step over on to the opposite shore?

Mr. Biggs-Davison

Can we have an assurance from the Government that their policy with their allies, and other friendly nations, is to secure on a permanent basis the freedom of navigation in this international waterway, according to the Constantinople Convention and the resolutions of the United Nations?

Mr. Rodgers

That supplementary question goes a great deal wider than the original Question. What we are primarily concerned with at the moment is the safety of the British subjects involved.

Mr. Sandys

Will not the Minister say a little more about opening the canal, and not merely confine himself to the question of the evacuation of British sub- jects? If he is not able to make a statement himself, will he promise us that a statement will be made by the Government, at the first possible moment, about what action is being taken to reopen the canal?

Mr. Rodgers

I can certainly give an undertaking on the larger question that we shall make a statement as soon as we are in a position to say something which will be useful to the House. I do not think that we can possibly make a statement earlier than the moment at which we have something helpful to say to the House. I thought that I was saying "Yes" to the right hon. Gentleman's request.

Mr. Molloy

Will my hon. Friend give the House an assurance that he will not embark on any disastrous policy in this matter, such as was followed by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Streatham (Mr. Sandys)?

Mr. Rodgers

The assurance which I have given, and will give again, is that we shall do all that we possibly can to ensure the safety of this group of British subjects, stranded in difficult circumstances.

Mr. Thorpe

Can the Minister say whether his information is that the canal is blocked by the presence of such ships as alleged or merely by political reasons?

Mr. Rodgers

It is not possible to know precisely why it is blocked at present. [An HON. MEMBER: "Why not?"] The information available to the House is the same as the information available to the Government on this point.

As I said in my original statement, we have, irrespective of what the original cause may be for the moment, the remark which has been made by the U.A.R. Foreign Minister, that the canal will remain closed as long as Israelis are on the east bank.

Lord Balniel

Surely it is possible at this time, and not at some indefinite time in the future, to confirm that the 1951 resolution imposes an obligation upon the Security Council to keep international waterways open?

Mr. Rodgers

Whatever the obligations, our immediate purpose must be twofold. First, and this was the burden of the Question asked, how can we best help the 202 British subjects who are stranded? I hope that nothing will be said this afternoon in the House which will in any way make it more difficult to help.

Mr. Maxwell

Can my hon. Friend say what are the nationalities of the other ships which are locked in the canal, and what Governments are they with whom he is having consultations about the possibility of getting the passengers and the ships released?

Mr. Rodgers

I cannot tell my hon. Friend immediately the nationalities of the other ships. [An HON. MEMBER: "Why not?"] As I have made clear, we are, in particular, in consultation with the Canadian Government, because of their special responsibility for British interests in this matter. We shall, of course, consult and act with every Government which can help to solve this problem.

Several Hon. Members

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. Mr. Heath. Business Question.