HC Deb 19 February 1969 vol 778 cc471-2
44. Mr. Ridsdale

asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will now give details of the programme for the withdrawal of British forces from the Persian Gulf.

Mr. Healey

I have nothing to add to my replies to similar Questions on 18th December, 1968.—[Vol. 775, c. 1353–4.]

Mr. Ridsdale

If the local sheikdoms are not able to form a defence force of their own before the General Election, will the Secretary of State keep the option open so that we can review the position then, in view of the importance of oil not only to ourselves but to N.A.T.O. as well?

Mr. Healey

Like my right hon. and hon. Friends, I cannot see the relevance of the General Election here, since the policy followed by the Government elected at the General Election will be the same as that of the present Government.

Mr. Whitaker

Can the Secretary of State give us an assurance that British troops are nowhere subjected to racialist or other restrictions on religious grounds?

Mr. Healey

I suppose my hon. Friend is referring to the advice, not order, given to British Service men in the area, on which I think a Written Answer is being given this afternoon. My hon. Friend will no doubt be relieved to know that any embarrassment caused by such advice will cease to be inflicted on Her Majesty's Government after the end of 1971.

Mr. Rippon

Will the right hon. Gentleman give our friends and allies in the Persian Gulf our assurance that after the General Election the new Government will give them support and will not be afraid to name them as friends and allies?

Mr. Healey

I hope very much that the right hon. and learned Gentleman will be prepared, for the first time, to state clearly what sort of help he would propose to give these countries after the election. Every time we attempt to cost it the right hon. and learned Gentleman pretends that he does not really intend to give any help at all.

Mr. Shinwell

May I ask my right hon. Friend for an assurance that when these soldiers are withdrawn from the Persian Gulf any property confiscated by the Arabs under the advice given by my right hon. Friend—not instructions, but advice—will be returned to these soldiers on their return to this country?

Mr. Healey

I think that my right hon. Friend has it slightly wrong. The soldiers will be advised to replace the labels on their undergarments if they so desire. The purpose of the advice is to ensure that the undergarments are not confiscated.