§ 2.49 p.m.
§ 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 make a Statement on the conclusions reached at the United Nations Special Assembly on Disarmament.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE, (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, a 9 White Paper on the special session was published on 7th July and is available in the Library of the House. As my right honourable friend the Leader of the House of Commons said on 6th July in another place, this is the first time that the world has agreed on a single document about disarmament. We welcome this, although we should have liked to see more in the Final Document about measures to curb nuclear proliferation and the world-wide build-up of conventional arms. We also welcome the agreement, on lines suggested by the United Kingdom, for reforming the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether he agrees with me that it is astonishing that the media have given so little attention to this important occasion for the peace of the world? Are not members of the Government a little responsible for their failure in their speeches and statements to draw attention to its importance? Can Her Majesty's Government give an assurance that they will support the final document, which is a strategy for complete disarmament, in the restructured Geneva Conference of the Disarmament Committee, despite its inadequacies on nuclear and conventional arms?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I doubt whether there is any lack of discussion of the proposals, or indeed the discussions attending those proposals as they emanated from this country. My noble friend, among others, has taken good care that these matters have been fully discussed in this House. Of course, in this country we do not control the extent to which the public Press pays attention even to what my noble friend says, still less to what I say, about these important matters. I think there has been fair publicity for our proposals. Certainly in international circles it is the fact, as I think my noble friend knows, that the British proposals commanded very wide agreement indeed, not only among like-minded countries but also among neutral and non-aligned States—a very important proviso—and indeed, to some extent, in the Soviet Union and among its allies. In particular, there was wide agreement on the very important point about which my noble friend reminded the House—namely, the reconstruction of what we 10 have been calling rather cumbersomely so far the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament. That is to be renamed the Committee on Disarmament, is to continue to meet in Geneva, and is to be the negotiating body. It will be expanded as to its membership so that it becomes somewhat more representative and will be so arranged that the chairmanship rotates among members rather than being confined alternately to the United States and the Soviet Union. Moreover, it is very promising, as my noble friend implied, in that we now have high hopes that the French will become full members of this new committee, and indeed the door is wide open for the People's Republic of China in due course, when it suits it, to join this body. That will be the negotiating committee and that is important. The deliberative committee, the Commission on Disarmament, is to be revived; it has not met since 1965. Here again the United Kingdom took the lead in offering constructive suggestions.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, may I thank the Minister for his reply and hope that it will be reported in the Press.