DEFENCE OF BRUNEI (Hansard, 24 January 1968)

HL Deb 24 January 1968 vol 288 cc305-6 305

§ 2.5 p.m.

LORD ST. OSWALD
My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Selkirk, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in his name on the Order Paper.

§ [The Question was as follows:

§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their recent statements of policy will alter the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government to defend the Sultanate of Brunei.]

§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (LORD SHEPHERD)
Her Majesty's Government's responsibility for the defence of Brunei stems from the 1959 Anglo-Brunei Agreement. As my right honourable friend the Commonwealth Secretary said in another place on October 24 last, no proposals have been made for changes in that Agreement; but as has also been made clear in another place on August 3, 1966, it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government that Brunei should progressively assume full responsibility in all fields of government, which will inevitably lead to a review of the Agreement at the appropriate time.

LORD ST. OSWALD
My Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that it does not answer the question of whether our obligations would be affected by the redisposals in the Far East?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I should have thought that my Answer was directly to the Question on the Order Paper. The Agreement to which the Question clearly refers stands on its own 306 and, as I have said, there have been no proposals for changes in that Agreement.

§ LORD OGMORE
My Lords, if we are going to vacate Singapore and move out of Malaysia, where will the forces necessary to defend the Sultanate of Brunei come from?

§ LORD SHEPHERD
My Lords, I am sure that the noble Lord, with his very long experience of the Far East, will recognise that the military forces, the police forces, of Brunei are increasing both in size and in efficiency. I must say that from my own experience of that part of the world, it is very difficult to see what sort of threat to Brunei exists to-day; but, clearly, while the Agreement is in being this is a commitment that we shall continue to meet until such time as that Agreement should be changed in any way.