§ 21. Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at Santiago.
§ Mr. KershawThe committees and working groups were due to report to the conference in plenary session in the course of last week. Many points of disagreement remain and intensive consultations to resolve these will take place before the conference ends this weekend.
§ Mr. PavittIs it not shameful and a disgrace to our people that Great Britain is being seen at this conference as the leader of the "have" nations and refusing to give any concessions whatever to the developing countries? Can the hon. Gentleman confirm that we are now the only nation not accepting the giving of 0.7 per cent. of our gross national product for technical assistance and overseas aid? Will he recall the two Ministers and get the Foreign Secretary to rebrief them about the attitude of the average person of this country to overseas aid?
§ Mr. KershawThe hon. Gentleman is quite wrong. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade went there at the beginning and my noble Friend the Minister of State has been there for a week and has made an important contribution to the debate. That attendance of Ministers is far above the average of most other countries. As to the amount of our aid, it is not true that we give only 0.7 per cent. We give 1 per cent. of our gross national product in aid, and this is superior to the performance of most other developed countries.
§ Mr. BlakerIs it not to the credit of Her Majesty's Government that in addition to playing a useful role at the current conference they have brought into operation in a very effective way the decisions of previous conferences about the Generalised Preference Scheme? Does not that contrast favourably with the actions of other developed countries, some of which have brought such schemes into effect in only a half-hearted way and others not at all?
§ Mr. KershawOur Generalised Preference Scheme has been operating since the beginning of the year. We have to keep in step with others. It is not some kind of competition to see which nation can get ahead. In all these very complicated matters, therefore, there is bound to be what must appear to enthusiasts to be rather slow progress; but progress is being made.
§ Mrs. HartWill the hon. Gentleman please pay the House the compliment of understanding what he is talking about when he talks about official figures for overseas aid? The House is perfectly well aware that, apart from America and France, which has hovered between 0.6 per cent. and 0.7 per cent., we are about 26 the only country which has refused to accept the target. Will he please answer two specific questions as we are now moving into the week of rather crucial decision in Santiago? First, is it the case that Her Majesty's Government abstained on the resolution relating to opening up insurance to developing countries? Second, is it the case that Her Majesty's Government are refusing to support a proposal for the link with special drawing rights by saying that the matter requires further study?
§ Mr. KershawOn the amount of official overseas aid, in common with some other countries we have not accepted that our official aid should be 1 per cent. of gross national product. The right hon. Lady knows that. It is not suitable in our view to tie ourselves down to a proportion between official and private aid. That depends upon the balances in the economy of the donor country. We are largely a private enterprise country. We believe that private enterprise has a great deal to contribute.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That is not a point of order.
§ Mr. KershawWith regard to the detail of the decisions of the conference, which has not yet ended, if the right hon. Lady would be kind enough to table those questions we could answer them in detail. A White Paper will be presented at the end of the conference setting it all out.