§ Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Prime Minister the present policy of Her Majesty's Government with regard to a Summit Conference; and what he has done during the last three months, and is now doing, to bring such a conference into being and to fruition.
§ The Prime MinisterDuring the early part of last summer we tried to get preparations for a Summit Conference started in Moscow. Our proposals for overcoming the obstacles which almost immediately arose were ignored by the Soviet Government. In a letter to Mr. Khrushchev of the 1st July I tried to get things moving again. But despite reminders he has never replied to this letter. Later in the summer he first agreed and then refused to attend a meeting of the Security Council at the level of heads of Government to discuss the Middle East.
Since then I have not taken any fresh steps. Against such a background it would have been useless to do so.
Nevertheless a Summit Conference is not an end in itself. Our end is to 100W negotiate settlements with the Soviet Government. We use whatever means seems best and is generally acceptable.