VIETNAM (Hansard, 22 January 1968)

§ 13. Mr. Winnick
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further British action has been taken to seek an end to the Vietnam war.

§ 14. Mr. Alexander W. Lyon
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what representations were made to the United States Government in relation to the war in Vietnam during the last 12 months.

§ Mr. George Brown
We have been, and remain, in close contact with other Governments concerned, including the United States Government, about ways and means of bringing the Vietnam war to an end. The House will understand, however, that I cannot reveal details of these private exchanges.

§ Mr. Winnick
Is it not tragic that at a time when the Government of North Vietnam have said that once the bombing stops there will be negotiations, there is no sign of talks beginning? Is my right hon. Friend aware that many of us genuinely fear that instead of negotiations, and a stop in the bombing, the Americans will step up the war in the illusion that they can win an outright military victory?

§ Mr. Brown
My hon. Friend may fear that, and I have tried many times to allay his fears without very much success. May I assure him that I am in the closest contact with what is going on. I think that this is a very good moment for all of us who wish to see the hostilities to be allayed to keep quiet and allow the consultations and conversations to go on.

§ Mr. Lyon
It is all very well for my right hon. Friend to say that we should keep quiet. Indeed, for most of the period of this Government that is what one has done, but is there any point in going on with public support for a American action in Vietnam if our influence appears to be diminishing to the extent where even Mr. McNamara is sacked because he has reservations about it?

§ Mr. Brown
I think that my hon. Friend is miles wide of the mark in the last thing that he said, but I am bound to say that if we want to bring the war to an end, if we want to stop the bombing, and if we want to get the parties to the table, this is the moment to allow the consultations and investigations that are going on to continue, and I simply do not think that my hon. Friends will help by the kind of comments they are making.
There were parts of Mr. Trinh's speech which were encouraging; there were other parts which were not so encouraging. One has to find out what is the significant part. I really do suggest that this is the moment above all when we would do most good by allowing these investigations to go on.

§ Mr. Walters
Will the right hon. Gentleman accept that after the announcement made by the Government last week, which caused such shock in the United States, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, whatever influence we had on policy in the Far East has been quickly diminished?

§ Mr. Brown
No, Sir, I do not think so at all. I have good reasons for knowing that this is not so, and I say to hon. Gentlemen opposite what I say to my hon. Friends, that if we are concerned with using our influence to bring the hostilities to a close, to stop the bombing, and to get the talks started, this is, above all, the moment for us to allow such consultations as are going on to continue without being messed up by too much talk from here.

§ Mr. Raphael Tuck
Has it been made clear to the United States Government that even though Her Majesty's Government have not so far dissociated themselves from American action in Vietnam, if they step up the war there we shall dissociate ourselves from them?

§ Mr. Brown
I am most certainly not willing to answer hypothetical questions like that. I trust that nobody will step up the war. I trust that both parties, including Hanoi, will try to de-escalate, and try to get to the table.

§ Mr. Ridsdale
Is it not quite clear that the American Government are doing everything they can to seek a political settlement, and is not by far the best place to try to find peace in Vietnam the United Nations, and not by activities from the Left-Wing of the Labour Government?

§ Mr. Brown
I do not see much point in that question, but I am certain that the Americans are very willing to go to the table and to talk if the others will, but I repeat that at what could be a critical moment I do not think that we are doing much good in this House by exchanging this kind of polemics.

§ Mr. Shinwell
Surely the Americans have been grossly offended by what we have decided to do about withdrawing our Forces from east of Suez, and would they be re-offended if we now took action 14 and asked them to get out of Vietnam, since it is impossible to gain a military victory? Would it not also please de Gaulle and allow us to get into the Common Market?

§ Mr. Brown
I think that I disagree with every part of my right hon. Friend's tripartite question. I do not believe that the Americans were deeply offended. I think that they understood. I do not think that there is any question of the second part, of my asking them to get out of Vietnam, and I think that my right hon. Friend, as an ex-Minister of Defence, and, if I may say so, as a very patriotic one, ought to look at the origins of why the Americans are there. As for the third part of the question, I shall deal with the Europeanisation of our policy without the kind of considerations which my right hon. Friend has introduced into the question.

§ Sir J. Rodgers
Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether his right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is likely to raise this matter of the Vietnam war during his visit to Russia, and the possibility of action being taken to bring the two sides to the conference table?

§ Mr. Brown
I think that it would be very foolish of me this afternoon to indicate what issues my right hon. Friend will be discussing in Moscow.