§ 2.40 p.m.
§ LORD HENDERSONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the recent changes in ministerial duties at the Foreign Office mean that there is no longer a Minister of State with special responsibility for disarmament.]
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (THE EARL OF LONGFORD)No, my Lords. My noble friend Lord Chalfont's responsibilities in this field remain unchanged. His other duties were defined by the Prime Minister on January 23, 1967.
§ LORD HENDERSONMy Lords, may I ask, as a supplementary, whether the noble Earl the Leader of the House is able to give an assurance that the Government's activities and initiatives for disarmament will not be diminished by the new responsibilities undertaken by the Minister of State in charge of disarmament?
§ THE EARL OF LONGFORDMy Lords, I can give that assurance very easily. We consider that the noble Lord's assistance in the field of disarmament will be still more effective with the new duties that have now been conferred on him.
§ LORD SNOWMy Lords, would my noble friend confirm that it would be entirely artificial to separate disarmament from defence? Surely these two matters are part and parcel of the same problem, and therefore is not my noble friend Lord Chalfont exactly rightly placed for coping with both?
§ THE EARL OF LONGFORDMy Lords, I would certainly agree with that, too. I would say that disarmament is inseparable from national and international security.