§ 2.45 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT STANSGATEMy Lords, I beg leave, speaking from the Back Benches, to ask Her Majesty's Government the Question of which I have given Private Notice—namely: What is their policy concerning the present crisis in the Lebanon, and whether they can give an assurance that British troops will not be committed outside the provision of the United Nations?
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)My Lords, if the noble Viscount is dissatisfied with my reply, or the House thinks it rather short, I must ask to be excused because I knew the terms of this Question, in its final form, only at about half-past one.
§ VISCOUNT STANSGATEThey were communicated much earlier.
THE EARL OF HOMEPart of it. I would answer the Question as follows: Her Majesty's Government wishes an independent Lebanon to be preserved. With that end in view we are giving our full support to the present United Nations operation. We hope that this operation will be successful, and the Foreign Secretary had a useful conversation with Mr. Hammarskjoeld yesterday about the problems involved in implementing the Security Council resolution. With regard to the question of the commitment of British troops, I must refer the noble 1114 Viscount to the statement of the Foreign Secretary in another place on May 19 when he said that no action would be taken contrary to the Charter or established rules of International Law.
§ VISCOUNT STANSGATEMy Lords, I can assure the noble Earl I did my best to meet his convenience by communicating very early, but these things are difficult. I would ask whether he has read in The Times this morning the statement that the concentration of troops in Cyprus is the largest since the emergency began, with the possible exception of the build-up for the Suez intervention. Then the statement goes on to say:
The Government are clearly taking care … to preserve a strategic reserve for use elsewhere in the Mediterranean if necessary. … The obvious deduction is that the Parachute Brigade will not be committed to internal security duties, but will be kept as a mobile strategic reserve. If an intervention in the Lebanon became necessary, it would have to be mounted from Cyprus.I should like to ask the noble Earl whether the Government contemplate the possibility of early intervention by British troops?
THE EARL OF HOMEThat is a question which I do not think the noble Viscount properly should have asked, but it is one that I intend to answer; and the answer is that there is no connection whatever between sending troops to Cyprus and the Lebanon situation.
§ VISCOUNT STANSGATEThe noble Earl is perfectly proper in rebuking me, but I asked the question in the light of our experience with Suez. Some people think it a possibility that we might meet on Tuesday finding British troops committed to a very indiscreet—indeed, one might say insane—adventure.