§ 4. Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the request of the President of Uganda for the supply of arms.
§ The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Joseph Godber)It is not Government policy to disclose details of arms sales or prospective arms sales to individual countries.
§ Mr. LyonIn view of the publicity which was given to his request by the President when he was here, would it not be wise for Her Majesty's Government to make clear that at the moment it would be wrong for this Government to be involved in a dispute between two friendly members of the Commonwealth 1068 in a situation in which the allegations are at least debatable, if not unproven?
§ Mr. GodberWe have no wish to be involved in a dispute between two members of the Commonwealth in this way. Britain has been a traditional supplier of arms to many of its ex-dependent territories, including Uganda. I do not think that it would be right to comment on this particular issue.