HC Deb 11 March 1969 vol 779 cc1169-71
Q7. Mr. Dempsey

asked the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the Presbytery of Hamilton regarding the sale of arms by Her Majesty's Government to Nigeria; and what were the terms of his reply.

The Prime Minister

My hon. Friend forwarded to me a copy of a petition which is being offered for signature by the Presbytery calling on the Government to stop the supply of arms from this country to Nigeria. I shall be replying to him later today.

Mr. Dempsey

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that, no matter how limited our supply is, this body of Christian opinion in Lanarkshire believes that the arms are being used to kill Commonwealth citizens in Biafra? Will he also bear in mind the request for a new initiative to organise an international arms embargo in this theatre of civil war with a view to hastening its end?

The Prime Minister

I am well aware of the sincerity of the Presbytery referred to in my hon. Friend's Question, and indeed of many other church organisations. What is at issue here is not the sincerity of them or of the Government but the right judgment about these matters. They have been debated in the House on a number of occasions. They will be debated again this week. It is better for the Government to reserve their reply until that time. Certainly I have said, and was reinforced in it by the discussions in the background of the Commonwealth Conference, that if we thought that we could help end this war or shorten it by one day by changing our arms policy, we would not hesitate to consider that. But I was given no evidence at the Commonwealth Conference that this would be the effect. It is an infernally difficult problem which haunts everyone.

Mr. Grimond

As one of the arguments put forward for supplying arms to Nigeria has been that they influence our influence with the Nigerian Government, what representations has the Prime Minister made to the Nigerian Government about the bombing of civilians, and what influence is he able to exert?

The Prime Minister

I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will be prepared to wait for Thursday's debate. My right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary has had two meetings in the past week with the Nigerian High Commissioner in this country, and the Permanent Under-Secretary of State is in Nigeria at the moment. I think that the right hon. Gentleman had better wait to hear from my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in the debate on Thursday.

Mr. William Hamilton

Would my right hon. Friend like to say at this juncture whether there has been any progress made towards a multilateral renunciation of arms sales to either side in Nigeria?

The Prime Minister

No, for reasons which have been given in the House. While I know the feelings of hon. Members, I should not want to raise hopes in that connection. I think that the real issue would be that, if there were to be an embargo—and it would have to apply to private and black market sales as well as to Governmental sales—[An HON. MEMBER: "And de Gaulle."] It would apply to all sorts of people—unless there was an agreement by the receiving authorities and unless there was really effective machinery to see that such an agreement was enforced, any multilateral agreement on the supply side would, I feel, be rendered singularly and onesidely ineffective in no time at all.

Mr. Thorpe

Her Majesty's Government have continually said that they would be prepared to stop supplying arms to Nigeria if other countries would follow suit. Can the Prime Minister say what initiatives this Government have taken to try to achieve that objective with other Governments?

The Prime Minister

I have nothing to add to the Answer that I have just given. Nor should I seek to anticipate what will be a whole day's debate which the Government and the House equally feel ought to be held later this week.