§ Q4. Mr. Shinwellasked the Prime Minister what are the qualifications required for the appointment of hon. Members to attend the meetings of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe and the North Atlantic Assembly.
§ Q5. Mr. Scott-Hopkinsasked the Prime Minister if he will review the appointment of Members of Parliament to the Western European Union.
§ The Prime MinisterOn qualifications, I would refer my right hon. Friend to my reply to a similar Question by him on 25th January, 1968. On the question of review, the composition of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Council of Europe and the Western European Union is reviewed annually, and appointments for the 1969–70 meetings will be made shortly.—[Vol. 757, c. 586–7.]
§ Mr. ShinwellIs my right hon. Friend aware that there is a suspicion among a large number of hon. Members on these benches that some hon. Members receive special favour, and also that there is ideological discrimination? Will he exercise a somewhat wider choice and not leave this matter exclusively to the discretion of the Patronage Secretary?
§ The Prime MinisterThe nominations are made by the three party leaders, who receive such advice as seems appropriate in the circumstances of each case and of each party. I am surprised to hear suspicion mentioned by my right hon. Friend, although I have heard it raised before at Question Time. If by "ideological" he means those who are in favour of entering the Common Market and those who are not, I think the present pattern on our side of the House just about reflects the vote of the House in May, 1967. I cannot speak for hon. Members of other parties. If the right hon. Gentleman would like to go and stir things up in Strasbourg, I am sure I would be very willing to consider any suggestion that he might be in the delegation.
§ Mr. Scott-HopkinsIn view of the importance which the Prime Minister now places on W.E.U., does not he think it 1267 strange to have as the chairman of the Defence Committee an avowed pacifist?
§ The Prime MinisterI am not aware what the hon. Gentleman is talking about here. The question of the chairmen of Committees of the W.E.U. is a matter for the W.E.U. to decide. As he will know, the representatives at the Western European Union are coterminous with the representatives at Strasbourg.
§ Mr. EdelmanIs not it true that not only is the chairman of the Defence Committee not a pacifist but that he fought very courageously against Franco and the Fascists?
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsWill not the Prime Minister agree that, since those who oppose the Common Market tend to make more noise in the House of Commons than those who support the Common Market, it is appropriate that those who are in favour of joining Europe should at least get the opportunity of expressing their sentiments in the international forums of Europe?
§ The Prime MinisterHaving regard to some of the hon. Gentleman's interventions, I am not sure that noise and quality of intervention are necessarily the same thing.
§ Mr. WoodburnDoes not the Prime Minister think it strange that people who are bitterly opposed to the unity of Europe should want to serve on all-European Committees?
§ The Prime MinisterI know of no hon. Member in this House who is opposed to the unity of Europe. I do not believe that this can be tested by the way they vote on particular issues, for example, about the Economic Communities. There are hon. Members in all parts of the House who are very keen on the unity of Europe who may have a different view on the Common Market from some of us. I do not think that it is possible or desirable to apply that kind of test.