HC Deb 04 July 1973 vol 859 cc521-3
14. Mr. Whitehead

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider the criteria of recognition by Her Majesty's Government to be applied in the case of foreign countries changing their forms of government.

Mr. Amery

No, Sir.

Mr. Whitehead

As, in a moment of unaccustomed clarity, the Greek regime was described as illegal by the Minister's right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, and in view of today's news of further arrests in Athens, including the arrest of the former Foreign Minister, Mr. Averoff, will the right hon. Gentleman now describe the regime as what it is, a guttersnipe crew of smalltime fascists whom we should not be recognising? Should not we reconsider the recognition that we so hastily gave after the illegal deposition of King Constantine?

Mr. Amery

The present Government, like the previous Government, have based their criteria for recognition—

Mr. Whitehead

It does not enjoy support.

Mr. Amery

—on whether a Government can be held to enjoy, with a reasonable prospect of permanency, the obedience of the mass of the population and the effective control of much the greater part of the territory. Those have been the criteria applied by the Attlee Government and every other Government since the war. I think that they apply to the present Government in Athens, whatever view the hon. Gentleman wants to take.

Sir F. Bennett

When my right hon. Friend referred to his criteria I thought I heard a murmur from the Opposition benches of "It does not enjoy majority support". Was the hon. Gentleman who said that talking about Czechoslovakia or Greece?

Hon, Members

Both.

Mr. Amery

I am advised—I was not in the Chamber at the time—that the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) suggested in an intervention last week that commanding support should be a criterion, but if that were the case there would be precious few Governments that we should be able to recognise.

Mr. Jay

Can the Minister, who is obviously very well informed, tell us what Governments now in existence the present Government have not recognised?

Mr. Amery

As the right hon. Gentleman may know—though he may not have been in the House when we discussed the matter on Thursday—we have not yet recognised the North Vietnamese Government, because it has been an established policy not to recognise Governments in divided countries, but we are moving towards it and as soon as certain criteria have been met I dare say we shall be able to consummate it.

Mr. Woodhouse

Does not my right hon. Friend appreciate that, whatever may be the intention of Her Majesty's Government, the premature recognition of the Greek Republic will be universally recognised as a stamp of approval, and that that impression will be ruthlessly exploited during the campaign leading up to the plebiscite later this month? Would not it have been better and fairer at least to wait until the plebiscite was over? What will be the Government's position if. as we all hope—including, no doubt, Her Majesty's Government—the plebiscite registers a negative vote?

Mr. Amery

I do not think that our recognition was premature, in accordance with the criteria, which I have explained. As my hon. Friend knows very well, the Greeks are a very sophisticated people They have a long experience of relations with us, and they will know exactly the grounds on which we have decided to recognise the Government there. The second part of my hon. Friend's question is hypothetical.