§ 32. Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the level of British technical aid to Samoa.
§ Mr. WoodWe have a capital aid programme of about £50,000 a year and also a small technical assistance programme.
§ Mr. DalyellThe Foreign Secretary has continually referred to the quality of the scientific advice he gets on radiation hazards—in Samoa and elsewhere— of French nuclear tests. Is the right hon. Gentleman's advice more distinguished than that of the double Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Linus Pauling, who has said that there will be 1,700 deformed babies in Australia, 1,500 of whom will die, and that the results in Polynesia and Samoa will be even worse? What medical help will be sent from this country to Samoa if the tests take place?
§ Mr. DalyellThey are facts.
§ Mr. DalyellAnswer the question.
§ Mr. WoodI think it would be wrong for us to anticipate or try to anticipate the effects of any nuclear tests.
§ Mr. DalyellJust wait until it happens.
§ Mr. WoodI do not think that the hon. Gentleman wants to hear the answer. It would be even more wrong to anticipate the decision that the Western Samoan Government might reach on the basis of any effects that these tests had.