HC Deb 19 May 1976 vol 911 cc1390-2
2. Mr. Robin F. Cook

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will raise in the United Nations Security Council the threat to world peace from the international trade in armaments.

6. Mr. Arthur Latham

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will raise in the United Nations Security Council the threat to world peace from the international trade in armaments.

7. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will raise in the United Nations Security Council the threat to world peace from the international trade in armaments.

Mr. Hattersley

No, Sir. Last year my right hon. Friend drew the attention of the United Nations General Assembly to the need to bring to an end, by serious multilateral negotiations, the enormous waste of resources on weapons of destruction. This is the most practical approach.

Mr. Cook

Will my right hon. Friend study the legislation currently before Congress which places restrictions on the sale of American arms to countries which consistently violate basic human rights? Is that not a lead we could follow? Could we not, as a first step, withhold armaments from South Korea, where the Government have just arrested the Opposition leaders for calling on the West to withhold trade until democratic freedoms are restored?

Mr. Hattersley

I think my hon. Friend knows that, in terms of individual negotiations for arms sales, it is not the practice of this or any other Government of comment. I hope my hon. Friend realises that the Government operate a very stringent licensing system before allowing the sale and export of arms. We apply political, economic and military criteria which are just as effective and proper in the preservation of our interests as is the American legislation.

Mr. Blaker

Is it not clear from the statement by the Secretary of State for Defence, reported today, that the military spending of the Russians has amounted to three times what they have admitted and more than 11 per cent. of their gross national product that the greatest threat to peace arises from the Russian arms build-up? May we expect from the Government, in view of what the right hon. Gentleman said, an initiative, which no doubt would be given enthusiastic support from Government supporters below the Gangway, to persuade the Russians to reduce the percentage of their GNP that they spend on arms to the same as our own?

Mr. Hattersley

That initiative is and has been taking place for some time in the mutual and balanced force reduction talks in Vienna.

Mr. Corbett

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied with the criteria laid down for deciding whether to supply arms to foreign countries, and are those criteria kept under constant review? Can he also impress upon his colleagues the need to include not simply weapons but guidance and other systems when making these decisions?

Mr. Hattersley

Clearly, the decisions to which I refer have to be related to a wide variety of materials, not all of which are directly military in the narrow sense of that word. The criteria vary from time to time according to judgments about the changing world situation. I am content that those criteria, as they apply at any one time, are right.

Mr. Maudling

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what criteria the Soviet Union applies to its enormous trade in armaments?

Mr. Hattersley

That is a question for Mr. Brezhnev and not for me.