§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question of which I have given Private Notice, namely—
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they propose to take in the Security Council of the United Nations in response to Saigon's request for urgent consideration of the conflict with China in the Parasel archipelago.
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR of BELHELVIEMy Lords, no meeting of the Security Council has yet been called.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, even so has not the request from Saigon been made? Will Her Majesty's Government urge that there should be a meeting of the Security Council in order to prevent dangerous international repercussions from this conflict in South East Asia?
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR of BELHELVIEMy Lords, it is for the President of the Security Council in the first place to start consultations, in which we shall be included, on whether a meeting should be held. We have not yet seen the text of any official communication from the Government of the Republic of Vietnam to the United Nations on this queston.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, in thanking the noble Baroness for that answer, may I ask whether it is not clear that the real issue is the possibility of oil supplies under these islands? Is it not desirable, in view of the oil situation in the world, that there should be immediate consultations about oil under the sea prior to the Conference on the Law of the Sea?
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR of BELHELVIEMy Lords, the noble Lord's Question was about a possible meeting of the Security Council. All I can say to-day is that it is not possible to say whether the United Nations can play a useful part in this matter until the outcome of consultations in New York are known.