§ 2.50 p.m.
Viscount MONCKMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name of the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is true that, as reported in the Press, no British naval vessel was present at the Declaration of Independence by the Seychelles and, if so, why not.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, it is a fact that none of Her Majesty's ships was present at the Independence ceremonies in Seychelles. None was planned to be in the area at the time for operational reasons, and it was unfortunately not possible to deploy one specifically for the purpose.
Viscount MONCKMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. Is he aware that Australia, France, India and Iran all had naval vessels present, dressed overall—as the noble Lord is a military man I hope he understands that expression, but if he does not I will explain it to him 1230 afterwards—and would it not have been courteous to the past, and prudent for the future, if Britain had done the same?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I am certain that the House is in sympathy with the spirit behind the noble Viscount's supplementary question. However, at the time when a decision had to be reached as to whether or not to send a ship to the Seychelles the cod war was at its height and it was not certain whether an operational ship would be available. The policy of Her Majesty's Government is to concentrate our naval forces around this island. Perhaps it was some compensation that the Royal Marines' band was present and that two aircraft of the Royal Air Force took part in the celebrations.
§ Lord CARRINGTONMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the reason he has given for not sending a ship to the Seychelles—in other words, that we were too busily occupied around Icelandic waters— fills a great many of us with alarm should anything worse occur than a cod war?
§ Lord WIGGMy Lords, the depths of our weakness are now exposed to the world. The responsibility for this rests fairly and squarely on the Conservative Government which introduced the 1957 White Paper, which since the end of the war has resulted in this country spending —57,000 million on defence. For what purpose these forces continue in existence is a question which has yet to be answered, but events are taking over.