HC Deb 23 November 1967 vol 754 cc1490-1
Q6. Sir W. Bromley-Davenport

asked the Prime Minister if he will name all the Ministers to be involved in the forthcoming negotiations with regard to the proposal for Great Britain's entry into the Common Market.

The Prime Minister

I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the Answer I gave on 6th June to a Question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Mr. Shinwell).—[Vol. 747, c. 189.]

Sir W. Bromley-Davenport

Will the Prime Minister take as little personal part in these negotiations as possible, because is he aware that he has turned so many political somersaults, broken so many promises, and double-crossed so many people, that hardly anybody believes a single word of what he says?

The Prime Minister

The hon. and gallant Gentleman knows that all of us on this side of the House will always be ready to listen to him because of the very high regard in which his intelligent pronouncements are always held in all parts of the House.

Mr. Alfred Morris

Can my right hon. Friend say whether the tightly-knit group of economically motivated men across the Channel take any different view of our application following devaluation, or are they insisting on a second devaluation before we negotiate our entry?

The Prime Minister

I think my hon. Friend, despite the originality of his phrase, perhaps gives a wrong impression when he thinks that the motivating force in the Economic Community is purely economic, or economic self-interest. It is not, nor is it the case in our own approach. But I have nothing to add, on the latter part of this question, to what I said on Tuesday following the meeting held by the Foreign Ministers of the Six last Monday.