HC Deb 07 June 1976 vol 912 cc886-8
2. Mr. Tim Renton

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he is satisfied with the outcome of his visit to UNCTAD IV in Nairobi.

6. Mr. Brittan

asked the Secretary of State for Trade whether he will make a statement on the outcome of the UNCTAD IV meeting at Nairobi.

23. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is satisfied with the outcome of the UNCTAD IV meeting; and if he will make a statement.

The Secretary of State for Trade (Mr. Edmund Dell)

I intend to make an oral statement very shortly.

Mr. Renton

Although I welcome that reply, is it not increasingly and tragically clear that the Secretary of State went to Nairobi without any brief whatsoever? Did not this lack of forethought come particularly badly from Britain, a country so dependent on the less-developed nations for its supply of raw materials?

Mr. Dell

It might be better if we left that matter to my statement. It is quite untrue that I went to Nairobi without any forethought. I went there with practical suggestions for action in the commodity field, some of which have been accepted in the resolution on commodities by the conference.

Mr. Hamilton

Does my right hon. Friend recognise the strangeness of his original answer? Was not this an opportunity to make a public statement? Will he give an assurance that the public statement will be made in this House? Why were the Government not convinced of the need for a common fund? That seemed to be apparent from the communications coming out of Nairobi.

Mr. Dell

My hon. Friend says it is strange that I did not take this opportunity to make a statement. I did not take this opportunity to make a statement because it would have taken a lot of time during Questions, and one can make a statement on a subject such as this outside Question Time. That was my judgment. My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House said that a proper account would be given to the House, and it seemed better to do that by means of an oral statement.

As to why the Government did not go along with the idea of a common fund, we have serious reservations about a common fund, although we have never said that we are not prepared to discuss this as one possible method of dealing with the commodities problem. But it is not, in our view, the most practical way.

Mr. David Steel

Is the Secretary of State aware of the widespread anxiety which many of us feel, arising from the reports we have had direct from the UNCTAD conference? Is he further aware that we look forward with keen anticipation to his statement but that many of us think that in future the Ministry of Overseas Development should have a rather larger say in British policy and that his Department should have less say?

Mr. Dell

I can assure the hon. Member that the Overseas Development Ministry has a full say in the determination of our policy in this matter. Part of our reservations about the common fund is precisely on grounds of development policy.

Mr. Higgins

Is it not now absolutely apparent that the Government's preparations for UNCTAD IV, and particularly their consultations with their EEC partners, were completely inadequate, and that last-minute panic is no substitute for proper preparation? Is the Secretary of State aware that we now expect him, unlike his predecessor, to give a lead in formulating an EEC position on trade and aid issues?

The Secretary of State has told the House that he will make a statement. Will he also give us an assurance that the House will have an opportunity of debating these matters, as there is widespread concern on both sides of the House about the way in which the Government are dealing with them?

Mr. Dell

The hon. Gentleman knows that the question of a debate is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House. As for developing an EEC position, we had consultations with member countries of the EEC in the run-up to UNCTAD. The truth is that there are different views within the EEC. As regards a common fund, in practice most members of the EEC take the view that we took—that there is reason at this stage for substantial reservations about it. But we are all prepared to discuss it and to see whether there is any way of handling those reservations.