HL Deb 31 January 1968 vol 288 cc774-5
VISCOUNT BRENTFORD

My 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 reports that the Rulers of the Trucial Oman States have offered to contribute some £25 million towards the cost of Great Britain retaining a military force in the Persian Gulf are correct; whether it is correct that they have refused such offers; and, if so, whether, having regard to the military, political, economic and social importance of the area, they will reconsider their decision.]

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (LORD CHALFONT)

My Lords, such offers were made, in general terms, by certain Rulers; no figure was mentioned. Her Majesty's Government are deeply grateful, but we have concluded, after careful consideration, that once our forces are redeployed in Europe it would not be practicable after 1971, without overstraining our national resources, to give a continuing military presence in the Gulf the backing in men and material it would need, even with financial contributions from the Rulers. This conclusion does not affect the continuing desire and readiness of Her Majesty's Government to help the Government of the Gulf States in other ways.

VISCOUNT BRENTFORD

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for that reply, which will be received with much greater satisfaction than was the Statement by his right honourable friend on the same subject on television. But may I also ask him whether there is in contemplation any early withdrawal of the Trucial Oman Scouts, or any disbandment of that force at all?

LORD CHALFONT

My Lords, as the noble Viscount knows, the question of the withdrawal of our forces from the Gulf is a matter of the late months of 1971. So far as detailed disposal and deployment of the Trucial Oman Scouts is concerned, I cannot give him an answer at the moment; I think I should ask the noble Viscount to wait until the publication of the Defence White Paper. If the information is not contained in that, then, of course, I will find out and let the noble Viscount know the answer to his question.

THE EARL OF DUNDEE

My Lords, it not the case that our premature withdrawal from the Gulf is put forward for economic reasons, and that the presence of our troops there, if they could be kept a little longer, would be of great benefit to world peace? And, since we have been trying for ten years, without success, to get the Germans to make a better contribution towards our forces in the Rhineland, why cannot we accept the offer of States in the Gulf to make a contribution towards their own defence? Do we look upon them, the Arabs in the Gulf, as a kind of inferior race who ought not to be asked to make this contribution? And ought we not to do our best to keep our troops there for a little longer, if it can be made economically possible?

LORD CHALFONT

My Lords, I think the noble Earl is unfair, to say the least, in accusing this Government of regarding the Arabs in the Trucial States, or anywhere else, as being an inferior race. Certainly this is not our attitude or our policy. So far as the substance of his question is concerned, I think the point is that, whatever the reasons for our withdrawal from the Gulf—and I take issue with the rather tendentious use of the word "premature", because we are not withdrawing until 1971, and it is now 1968 I do not regard that as a precipitate withdrawal—even with the contributions so generously offered by those who offered them in the Gulf States, it would not be feasible for us to maintain troops there and the logistic support necessary to sustain them. This would not, in our view, be a sensible deployment of our resources after 1971.