§ 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 what is their attitude towards the recommendation by the United Nations group of experts that the use of napalm and other incendiaries should be prohibited in warfare and why they declined to appoint a British representative to the group.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, the Secretary-General's Report on Napalm and Other Incendiary Weapons has only just been published. Its purpose was to provide factual information about these weapons and their effects. In common with many other countries, we did not think that we had a suitably qualified expert who could have contributed to this study. The Report is now being studied carefully and we assume that the matter will be discussed further in an appropriate international forum.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. But does not the Report go very much further than that? Does it now draw attention to the appalling suffering which napalm causes? Does it not actually recommend that napalm and other incendiaries should be prohibited, and will this not now go to the legal committee of the United Nations and come before the General Assembly? What will be the attitude of Her Majesty's Government to that recommendation?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, of course the noble Lord is perfectly right in what he is saying regarding the contents of the Report. This certainly is a most unpleasant weapon 2248 All I can tell him at the moment is that, as I said, the Report has only just been received. The Government are looking at it very carefully because it is a very serious problem, but I am afraid that I cannot tell the noble Lord at this stage what will be the outcome.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, in view of the fact that the whole world must have seen pictures of the disfiguring result of these weapons on civilians, what more have the Government to learn about them before they take some action?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I do not know whether the Government have anything more to learn. That is why they are studying the Report with the greatest possible care, to see what appropriate action can be taken.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, does the Minister really mean that Her Majesty's Government could not find an expert to serve on this committee? Is he aware that the United Nations itself co-opted an expert from this country who gave very valuable evidence to the committee? Also, why did we, France, and the United States of America boycott this committee when Governments of all characters in various parts of the world agreed to serve on it?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I do not think it is quite right to say that we boycotted this committee. What we felt was that at that particular time we did not have the right man who was suitably qualified on this particular subject of napalm. Surely the point is that this committee has produced a very valuable and a very useful Report, and it is the action which has to be taken now which matters.
§ LORD PLATTMy Lords, I really think that that is a most unsatisfactory answer. I do not think you need to be an absolute expert in chemical warfare to give a judgment on the question of the evidence.
§ LORD PLATTI beg your Lordships' pardon. Do Her Majesty's Government think that it is really necessary to have somebody who is an expert in the use of napalm or something of that kind? 2249 Cannot people form a judgment without necessarily being experts?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, the point was that we were asked to provide an expert in this particular field of napalm; and, as I say, we did not have a suitably qualified person at that time. I should like to emphasise, because I think it is important, that this Report is what matters now. It is a very clear and factual Report, which the Government are studying very carefully with a view to taking appropriate further action.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, are we to take it from the reply of the noble Marquess that Her Majesty's Government and the Ministry of Defence have no knowledge at all about how they could protect British subjects if they were to be attacked by that weapon?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANNo, my Lords; I hope I was not implying that. What I am trying to answer is the Question on the Order Paper regarding this particular Report and what the Government are proposing to do about it.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Marquess said that the Government could not provide somebody because there was no expert in this country; at least, the Government had no knowledge of one. There can be only one construction put on that, and that is why I asked the question.
§ LORD WYNNE-JONESMy Lords, do Her Majesty's Government require any suitable names to be put forward? I should have no difficulty at all in supplying the noble Marquess with a number of names.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I should be grateful for the noble Lord's offer if the situation should occur again.
§ LORD WYNNE-JONESMy Lords, if I take up the request, will Her Majesty's Government accept any recommendations I may make?
§ LORD GLADWYNMy Lords, cannot the Government say that they are against 2250 the use of this horrible weapon in principle, subject to investigation?
§ THE MARQUESS OF LOTHIANMy Lords, I think we are getting rather wide of the mark. We are at the moment considering this Report. It has only just been received; and I am quite certain that the whole of this subject will come up again in, as I say, the appropriate forum when the Government have had time to consider the matter.