§ 58. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in view of the need for accelerating discussions with the Soviet Government on the question of disarmament, if he will consider visiting Moscow.
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreNo. Any discussion of disarmament would require the presence of representatives of other powers as well.
§ Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the number of specific disarmament proposals made during the last twelve years by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and rejected by the Western Powers; and if he will circularise the details in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreI give below a list of fourteen specific Soviet proposals which the Western Powers have not accepted. The list indicates when the proposals were put forward and where the right hon. and learned Gentleman can find further details of them. Nine of the proposals have been published textually in White Papers. I have omitted some minor proposals which simply repeated features of the proposals listed.
Following is the list:
June, 1946: Proposal for prohibition of nuclear weapons and the destruction of existing stocks (Third Report of the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, 1948).
September, 1948: Proposal for prohibition of nuclear weapons and the reduction by one-third of the armed forces of the five permanent members of the Security Council (Command 7630, page 8).
September, 1950: Proposal for prohibition of nuclear weapons and the reduction by one-third of the armed forces of the five permanent members of the Security Council (Command 8264, page 82).
10WJanuary, 1952: Eight-point "peace plan", in which the disarmament points called for the prohibition of nuclear weapons and the reduction by one-third of the armed forces of the five permanent members of the Security Council (Command 8547, page 15).
June, 1954: Proposal for prohibition of nuclear weapons and reduction by one-third of the armed forces of the five major powers (Command 9204, page 29).
September, 1954: Proposals for disarmament convention calling for a two-stage reduction of armed forces and armaments with prohibition of nuclear weapons before completion of second stage (Command 9394, page 12).
February, 1955: Proposals for a "freeze" of armed forces and conventional armaments and for the destruction of nuclear weapons (Command 9636, page 18).
May, 1955: Proposals for comprehensive disarmament (Command 9636, page 33).
July, 1955: Marshal Bulganin's proposal at Geneva that the Soviet proposals for comprehensive disarmament should be preceded by a pledge by the four great Powers not to be the first to use nuclear weapons (Command 9636, page 50)
March, 1956: Proposals for limitation and reduction of conventional armed forces, for a "zone of limitation" in Central Europe and for the suspension of nuclear tests (Command 9770, page 31).
March, 1957: Proposals for comprehensive disarmament, substantially re-stating proposals of November, 1956, which had not yet been discussed (Command 333, page 25).
April, 1957: Proposals for partial disarmament (Command 333, page 43).
June, 1957: Proposal for unconditional suspension of nuclear tests, under international control, as an isolated measure (Command 333, page 75).
October, 1957: Mr. Gromyko, in the United Nations General Assembly, proposed adoption of five "immediate measures": the suspension of nuclear tests, a five-year prohibition of use of nuclear weapons, reductions of foreign forces in Germany and in the N.A.T.O. and Warsaw Pact areas, reductions in foreign bases, and agreement not to station nuclear weapons outside the nuclear powers' territories; only the first two were defined in specific proposals (United Nations publication "Disarmament and the United Nations", a copy of which is in the Library of the House).