§ 30. Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response has been received to the letter of 2 April from the Minister for Overseas Development to the director general of UNESCO.
§ Mr. RaisonI have not yet received a direct response to my letter, but I reinforced the message in it when Mr. M'Bow called on me on 18 April. Our proposals are currently being debated by the executive board.
§ Mr. BaldryIn view of the recent history of UNESCO, what specific improvements are the Government seeking; and, if those improvements are not forthcoming, will my right hon. Friend consider that Britain should withdraw from UNESCO?
§ Mr. RaisonIn my letter to Mr. M'Bow I set out the improvements that we require. It would not be possible to list them all here, but they relate to the most effective use of resources, reducing the political content of UNESCO and, generally speaking, greater emphasis on action rather than theoretical studies. Mr. M'Bow understands that, if reforms are not achieved, our membership of UNESCO will be in great doubt.
§ Mr. BennDo not the real objections to UNESCO come from multinational newspapers and television corporations, which object strongly to developing countries trying to develop their own systems so that they can receive information about their societies and not fall under the control of the international companies that seek to dominate their media?
§ Mr. RaisonThe right hon. Gentleman gives a distorted impression of what we are doing. I have already explained our objections. It is true that there have been apprehensions lest the New World Information and Communication Order should lead to some loss of freedom among the media. We should be unhappy about that if it came to pass.