§ 4. Mr. Sproatasked the Lord Privy Seal what latest discussions he has had with representatives of the Warsaw Pact countries regarding the implementation of the Helsinki agreement.
§ Mr. BlakerSince I answered my hon. Friend's question on 18 June I have called in the Soviet Ambassador to protest at the harassment and intimidation of a number of British visitors to the Soviet Union, in breach of the Helsinki agreement. There have been meetings at official level with the Governments of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
§ Mr. SproatWill my hon. Friend make it clear that the Soviet Union is obnoxiously in breach of the Helsinki agreement's provisions for greater freedom of movement, in that no fewer than 150 persons normally resident in Great Britain, including the wife of the official attaché of the British Olympic team—it is also in breach of the Olympic spirit—have been refused visas to visit the Soviet Union during the Games?
§ Mr. BlakerI agree with my hon. Friend. I understand that the Soviet embassy in this country has refused to grant visas to people who do not hold British passports. That appears to us to be another example of a breach by the Soviet Union of its obligations.
§ Mr. SpriggsIs the Minister aware that hon. Members on both sides of the House would welcome greater freedom in the Soviet Union? However, does he agree that many of those who criticise Soviet policy should understand that the King David hotel was blown up, along with many British officers and their families? Is he aware that there are other parts of the Middle East where certain people could teach the Russians methods of atrocities far beyond anything that we have seen yet from the Soviet Union?
§ Mr. BlakerI find the hon. Gentleman's question remote from the original question on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. David AtkinsonIs my hon. Friend prepared to submit practical proposals to the Madrid conference for the establishment of a Helsinki conference commission on human rights which would be empowered to investigate and report upon discrimination and harassment on religious grounds in any or all participating States?
§ Mr. BlakerI am familiar with my hon. Friend's ideas on that subject. They are certainly of interest. The first task at Madrid, however, is to conduct a thorough evaluation of the extent to which the various parties to the Helsinki agreement have fulfilled or failed to fulfil their obligations.
§ Mr. DalyellWhat concrete evidence do the Government have of harassment of British citizens?
§ Mr. BlakerWhen I called in the Soviet Ambassador on 18 June I handed 1473 him a piece of paper containing details of eight cases that had been brought to my notice—
§ Mr. DalyellPut it in the Library.
§ Mr. Blaker—by British subjects who had asked that their cases should be raised with the Soviet authorities. These cases had already been raised with the Soviet authorities in Moscow by our Ambassador there, but without result. I thought that it was right for me to follow up his representations.