§ 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 initiate consideration at the United Nations Security Council of breaches of the embargo on arms supplies to the Republic of South Africa as evidenced by the military parade at Pretoria on 26th November which included the United States 155 mm. howitzer and 50,000 shell casings capable of delivering a two-to-three kiloton nuclear device.
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, the United Nations Answer, may I ask the Minister this question: Did investigation of alleged breaches of the arms embargo which may have enabled South Africa to manufacture the 155 mm. howitzer. Following legal proceedings, both in the United States and Canada, the firm concerned and certain individuals connected with it were found guilty and sentenced in accordance with the laws of both countries. We have no evidence that South Africa has nuclear shells.
§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, while welcoming that Answer, may I ask the Minister this question: Did not this parade show that a large number of companies are defying this embargo on arms? In particular, could he confirm that the South African Government have acquired 20 per cent. of the shares in the United States space research corporation which has provided South Africa with £25 million worth of pieces of artillery, including the howitzer to which I referred? May I also ask him whether the Philips group, the trans-national company with plants in Britain, the United States, France, Germany and four other countries, is not now providing South Africa with both electrical products for its army and military technologies?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, that is a fairly comprehensive supplementary question, if I may say so. The fact is that the parade showed a number of weapons, as the noble Lord says; but most of them pre-dated the arms embargo and do not therefore, I suggest, come within the scope of the noble Lord's Question. As to the question on the howitzer itself, the position is as I described it in my original Answer.
Lord Paget of NorthamptonMy Lords, in view of the general chaos in Africa, could the noble Lord tell us whether Her Majesty's Government think it a good thing or a bad thing that South Africa is capable of defending herself and the seaways that pass her?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I fancy that that is a trick question. As for the arms embargo—which is perhaps more precisely what the noble Lord meant—the Government are fully committed to implement the embargo, and, following on what the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, said, we investigate allegations of any breach of United Kingdom law, which implements the embargo. There is no suggestion of such a breach in this case.
§ Lord BrockwayMy Lords, has the noble Lord read the Philips Connection—Military Electronics for South Africa? That provides documents that show that the Philips group is supplying a whole number of military products for the South African Government. That is now, not before the agreement. Is he aware that the shop stewards at Philips are now taking action to expose this situation on an international scale?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, there are, if I may say so, many allegations of breaches of this embargo, most of which do not bear examination, but some do. Where there is prima facie evidence of breach of British law then we follow the matter up fully.