§ LORD BROCKWAYMy 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 they will encourage participation in the Convocation called at the invitation of the Maltese Government on pacem in maribus to be held in Valetta from June 27 to July 3, 1970.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (LORD CHALFONT)My Lords, we are in touch with the organisers of the Convocation to which my noble friend refers. It is, however, a private venture. Invitations to it are issued not by the Maltese Government, but by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions of California, although the Maltese Government have agreed to provide the facilities for it. Everyone attending the Convocation does so in his or her personal capacity. In these circumstances, while Her Majesty's Government attach the greatest importance to the question of the peaceful uses of the sea bed and ocean floor, I am sure that noble Lords will agree that it is not for Her Majesty's Government to encourage or discourage participation in this particular event.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for that reply. While this conference is not Governmental, is it not a fact that it will be attended by experts from all parts of the world? May I ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will grant facilities for the attendance of delegates to this conference so that the forthright British view may be put forward, that the seabed, beyond the limits of sovereignty, is the common heritage of all mankind?
§ LORD CHALFONTMy Lords, it is true that experts from many countries have announced their intention of attending the conference. There are many calls on the time of our own experts. So far as I am aware, the only British Minister or official so far invited to this Convocation is my noble friend Lord Caradon, who is unable to accept the invitation because of other commitments. I am not quite sure what my noble friend 6 means by "granting facilities" for people to attend. If people are invited, and wish to go to the Convocation, we shall certainly not stand in their way.
§ LORD RITCHIE-CALDERMy Lords, would my noble friend agree that it might be rather useful if those who do attend the conference could have some insight into the British Government's attitude on this general question? I ask this question because I happen to be one of the people who are going to this conference.
§ LORD CHALFONTMy Lords, I am delighted to learn that my noble friend has been invited and is to attend the conference. If he wishes to be briefed on the British Government's attitude towards these problems I shall be delighted to do it personally.
§ LORD RITCHIE-CALDERMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that the need for an ocean regime of the kind which is being discussed at this conference is becoming more urgent, because the technology of the extraction of resources from the ocean bed is now so advanced that the expropriation of those resources to the detriment of the common heritage of mankind is already possible?
§ LORD CHALFONTMy Lords, Her Majesty's Government are aware of the urgent need to study these problems. There are many activities going on at the moment, both in and outside Governments, on the whole question of the marine environment. I shall be delighted to discuss these activities at any time with my noble friend, or with any other Member of your Lordships' House who proposes to attend this Convocation.