HL Deb 12 October 1988 vol 500 cc872-4

2.40 p.m.

Lord Hatch of Lusby asked Her Majesty's Government:

What were the contents of the letter sent to Congressmen by the British Acting Chargé d'Affaires in Washington in August.

The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)

My Lords, the letter dealt with our attitude to aspects of the draft legislation before Congress on sanctions against South Africa. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library.

Lord Hatch of Lusby

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. Can he tell the House now before we have to go to the Library what were the main contents of that letter? Can he also tell the House whether the British Embassy confirmed that a letter had been sent drawing attention of Congressmen to the consequences of the proposed legislation on sanctions, and that one of the items in that letter was a threat that United States oil companies would be frozen out of exploration in the North Sea?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the legislative proposal before Congress at the time was intended to do just that to British firms operating in the United States. Therefore I fancy that noble Lords may think that the response was correct. The difficulty that we had with the proposals before Congress at that time was with the extra-territoriality which they represented, and that is a question on which we have made our views known on a number of occasions in recent years.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, this was clearly a letter of some significance. As such letters are sent with the authority of Her Majesty's Government, can the noble Lord say whether the Foreign Secretary or some other Minister saw the letter or a draft before it was dispatched?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords. I can confirm that the letter concerned represented the view of the British Government.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, the noble Lord has answered very quickly and no doubt well; but he has not answered my question. Can he say whether the letter was in fact seen by the Foreign Secretary or one of his assistant Ministers?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, I am not certain, off the cuff, who saw the letter; but I can confirm that, as I said, it represented the view of the British Government. Certainly the policy which it represented had been agreed by Ministers.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, could letters of this importance be sent out without the authority of Ministers?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the letter was not sent without the necessary authority. As I have said, it represented the agreed policy of Her Majesty's Government.

Lord Hatch of Lusby

My Lords, will the Minister clarify his reply to me? Is he confirming that in this letter there was a threat or an implicit threat that if the legislation were passed through the United States Congress then United States oil companies might be frozen out of exploration in the North Sea? If that is the case, does he not agree that this is an intolerable form of blackmail against the elected representatives of the United States who were doing what they saw as their duty in bringing forward legislation to tighten sanctions against South Africa?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the issue at stake was not the question of sanctions on South Africa but of the right of Congress to pass legislation which has effect outside the territorial United States. That is a matter upon which the British Government have made representations both to the United States Administration and the United States Congress on a number of occasions in recent years because unhappily such proposals have come forward in various measures proposed in the American Congress.

Lord Elwyn-Jones

My Lords, can the noble Lord tell us whether it is established practice for the British Charg½ d'Affaires to communicate by letter to Congressmen? Is there an equivalent procedure applicable to this country and this House?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, it is indeed established practice for letters of this kind to be sent. In fact it is the way things are done "on the Hill", as it is called in Washington. Representations are made direct to members of Congress, be they Senators or Members of the House of Representatives. It is sometimes done by officials of the embassy, sometimes by the ambassador himself and sometimes by Ministers themselves in this Administration.

Lord Paget of Northampton

My Lords, does the Minister agree that the truth of the matter is that this was an excellent letter which represented Her Majesty's Government's policy?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, as I said in answer to an earlier supplementary question, the letter indeed represented agreed government policy.

Lord Hatch of Lusby

My Lords, the Minister has not answered the question that I put to him; namely, did the letter contain a threat, explicit or implicit, that should this legislation be passed through Congress, United States oil companies might be frozen out of North Sea exploration?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the noble Lord will be able to read the letter when he visits the Library shortly. I shall not therefore weary your Lordships by reading it out in full, but certainly it made reference to the position that would exist were the legislation to be passed.