HC Deb 18 March 1981 vol 1 cc278-9
9. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Lord Privy Seal when he next intends to meet the United States Secretary of Stale to follow up matters discussed in the recent official visit to the United States of America.

Mr. Ridley

My right hon. Friend hopes to meet the United States Secretary of State when he is in London on 9 April.

Mr. Allaun

Will the Minister of State press Mr. Haig to respond to the recent offer by Mr. Brezhnev on SALT, cruise missiles and troop movements, thus lessening East-West tension, rather than heightening it, as the Iron Maiden is doing?

Mr. Ridley

We always discuss these matters with our American allies, but there will be no readiness to concede military weakness as a ground for giving away any part of our defences. I am sure that all such matters will be discussed at future meetings and I hope that in the meantime the hon. Gentleman will agree that we should keep up our guard and make sure that we do not have any agreement that disadvantages the West.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

Does my hon. Friend agree that the new American Secretary of State, General Haig, has made some sensible and positive pronouncements about the importance of Southern Africa and, in particular, of Namibia? Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government should support the determination of the United States not to allow the Marxist jackboot to take over Southern Africa, which is so important to the whole Western world, not only because of its strategic position, but because of the vital raw materials that it possesses?

Mr. Ridley

My hon. Friend can assess what the American Secretary of State says about all those matters. I assure him that full and agreeable talks took place between my right hon. Friends and the Secretary of State in Washington and that the situation was discussed without any great divergence of view.

Mr. Denzil Davies

When the Foreign Secretary meets the Secretary of State will he emphasise to him the considerable alarm that exists in many parts of this country over the manner in which the United States Administration are conducting their foreign policy in South America? I refer particularly to the oblique harassment of the Nicaraguan Government, the attempt to bolster the unjust economic regime in El Salvador and now the attempts to get even closer to the military dictatorships of Argentina and Chile.

Mr. Ridley

I think that the right hon. Gentleman has to admit that those who supply arms clandestinely to aid the rebels who are fighting against an established Government have every right to incur censure from the American Government, from ourselves, and from the Opposition Benches.

Mr. Latham

Did Mr. Alexander Haig say to the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary in Washington, or subsequently, that he actually approved of, and welcomed, the EEC initiative on the Middle East?

Mr. Ridley

I cannot give a full answer to that question, not having been present on that occasion. I can assure my hon. Friend that it was agreed that the Venice declaration was complementary to and not in conflict with what the Americans are seeking to do through Camp David.