HC Deb 29 February 1968 vol 759 cc1743-5
22. Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

asked the Minister for Overseas Development if he will now stop all aid in any form to Egypt.

Mr. Prentice

No, Sir. In fact the only direct aid my Ministry is giving to the U.A.R. at present is to pay the cost of one Egyptian trainee in Britain. The British Council is also providing some training facilities in this country for a number of Egyptians.

Mr. Boyd-Carpenter

I welcome the scanty nature of that aid. Does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that, while Egypt is spending large sums on arms which menace her neighbours and wilfully casting away revenues by keeping the Suez Canal closed, it is wrong to ask the British taxpayer to help her?

Mr. Prentice

I do not think, from the figures which I have given, that the British taxpayer is contributing a significant sum in this respect. It is probably in the interests of the U.A.R. and its neighbours for economic progress to take place in the U.A.R. Therefore, I see no ground for stopping the rather modest programme which we have at present.

Mr. Shinwell

Is there not some discussion proceeding now between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of the U.A.R. about a £20 million loan for Egypt? Will my right hon. Friend understand that there will be no question of provision of this kind to Egypt—[An HON. MEMBER: "Why not?"] May I be allowed to put a question with the consent—I was proceeding and I was interrupted, Mr. Speaker—I object to interruptions—

Mr. Speaker

Order. The right hon. Gentleman must not interrupt himself.

Mr. Shinwell

May I put my point? Can it be understood that there can be no question of aid to Egypt unless it abandons its intransigence in the area?

Mr. Prentice

I think that my right hon. Friend means the short bridging loan which has been provided by a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, to assist Egypt to repay her debt to the I.M.F. This is a matter of a loan for a few weeks only, and the responsibility for it falls right outside my Department.

Mr. Wall

Would the right hon. Gentleman agree that no loan or underwriting of an international loan should be made available to Egypt except on condition that the blocked sterling balances belonging to many hundreds of British subjects in Cairo are released?

Mr. Prentice

If the hon. Gentleman wants to pursue the question of the short-term bridging loan, he should do so with the Foreign Secretary. I do not agree personally with the view which he just expressed.

Mr. George Jeger

Should not aid to Egypt be in the form of advice on how to clear the Suez Canal and open it to international shipping, thus enabling Egypt to earn her own living?

Mr. Prentice

Certainly, all of us would join my hon. Friend in the hope that the Suez Canal should be opened as soon as possible.