Malta (Hansard, 6 April 1970)

§ 22. Mr. Wall
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on relations with Malta.

§ Mr. George Thomson
We remain in our usual close contact with the Government of Malta and hope that a settlement will be reached on aid terms under the Financial Aid Agreement.

§ Mr. Wall
Does not the right hon. Gentleman agree that this close contact has now gone on for over a year without any aid being supplied to Malta? Does not he regard it as a disgrace that a rich country like ours, with past responsibilities and a present duty to Malta, is so mean as not to agree to continue the terms of the first five years of our aid plan to the second five years?

§ Mr. Thomson
Our close contact with Malta has gone on for many years in the past and I hope that it will go on for many years in the future. As for the question of aid, the hon. Gentleman was told by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Overseas Development that these matters were under active discussion and that she would make a statement as soon as possible.

§ Mr. Braine
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the continued deadlock between two countries that have had a happy and honourable association for 150 years is distressing to the peoples of both countries? Cannot he take some initiative to break this deadlock?

§ Mr. Thomson
We are as anxious as is the hon. Gentleman to see this deadlock broken. He knows very well what the difficulty is. On the second half of the aid agreement, the distribution of aid as between grants and loans is disputed by the Government of Malta. I can only say that one difficulty in dealing with this matter is that we are concerned with an agreement entered into by the hon. Member's Government, which left some ambiguities.