HC Deb 20 June 1968 vol 766 cc1306-7
Q4. Mr. Molloy

asked the Prime Minister when the next Commonwealth Prime Ministers' conference will take place.

The Prime Minister

I have as yet nothing to add to the Answers I gave on 2nd May and 4th April to Questions by the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten) and the hon. and learned Member for Antrim, South (Sir Knox Cunningham).—[Vol. 763, c. 1285–7; Vol. 762, c. 600–1.]

Mr. Molloy

Will my right hon. Friend consider submitting a proposal to his Commonwealth colleagues to hold such a Conference on the basis of showing the British Commonwealth flag and ideals in Salisbury in Rhodesia?

The Prime Minister

The Question relates to holding a conference, and we were not proposing to hold it in Salisbury. The venue has not been settled, and there is this great difficulty, that with 27 independent countries of the Commonwealth it is proving very difficult to get agreement on a particular date when we can all be present, and when, unlike at the recent Commonwealth conference, we shall have present a very high proportion of Heads of Government. I hope that we shall agree on a date, but nearly every date suggested so far has been difficult for one or more Prime Ministers. We have ourselves put forward a number of alternative dates.