§ Q2. Mr. Dalyellasked the Prime Minister if he will pay an official visit to the Solomon Islands.
§ Mr. BarberI have been asked to reply.
My right Hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. DalyellWill the Chancellor confirm that the Prime Minister has mentioned to President Pompidou the legitimate fears of Solomon Islanders, Australians and New Zealanders about the French nuclear tests? Has the Prime Minister actually talked to President Pompidou about these fears?
§ Mr. BarberThe French Government are aware of our concern in the event of any resumption of tests, in view of our responsibilities in the Pacific. I am confident that if the French decide to resume tests they will, as on previous occasions, give us adequate warning, so that we can make appropriate arrangements for radiological health surveys.
§ Mr. ShoreThe right hon. Gentleman must realise that that is a most unsatisfactory answer. As there is, and has been for the past year, formal consultative machinery for the Foreign Ministers of the Six—as they then were—and applicant countries to consult together on foreign policy matters, why has not the Foreign Secretary raised this matter in that forum? If he has not already done so, will the Chancellor consult his right hon. Friend to make sure that he does so at the next meeting?
§ Mr. BarberThe right hon. Gentleman will have seen recent reports in the Press to the effect that the French Government are proposing to explode a nuclear device in the Pacific Ocean this year. Obviously we are also aware of the reports, but there has been no official confirmation of their accuracy. If there had been private communications, with the French Government, then both the fact of those communications and their content remain private.