HC Deb 17 April 1961 vol 638 cc67-70W
72. Dr. A. Thompson

asked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals he intends to make to the three-Power Nuclear Conference to meet the Soviet objection that a Test-ban Control Commission which was so constituted as to contain a majority of Western countries would place the Soviet Union in a subordinate, unequal position.

Mr. Heath

When putting forward joint proposals on behalf of the two Western delegations on 21st March the United States delegate declared that, provided there is satisfactory agreement on all the other Treaty provisions, including an assurance of an effective, reliable and fast-acting control system, the United States would put forward a proposal calling for the establishing of East-West parity in the Control Commission. In our view this concession fully meets the Soviet objection to which the hon. Gentleman refers.

73. Dr. A. Thompson

asked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals he intends to submit to the three-Power Nuclear Conference in order to reconcile the United States of America and Soviet views on the length of time for phasing the installation of a control system and the number of control posts to be established during this phase.

Mr. Heath

On 21st March the United States delegate put forward on behalf of the two Western delegations a joint proposal aimed at reconciling the views of the Soviet Union and the Western Powers on the number of control posts to be established in the Soviet Union. We are still awaiting the considered reply of the Soviet Government to this proposal. As regards the phasing of the installation of the control system, there is agreement between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union that the control system should be completed within six years of the entry into force of the Treaty. The Soviet Union has, however, made demands which imply that there should be no on-site inspection for the first four years. This is unacceptable to the West.

Dr. A. Thompson

asked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals regarding the inspection of bases he intends to make to the three-Power Nuclear Conference to give practical effect to the compromise proposed by Her Majesty's Government in February, 1959, and still acceptable to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics although not subsequently pursued, that controversial technical propositions which had impeded agreement should be eliminated from the discussions and that the number of inspections be determined, without regard to controversial technical facts, in the form of a fixed annual quota of events to be inspected.

Mr. Heath

The purpose of my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in putting forward the idea of a quota of veto-free on-site inspections, was to induce the Soviet Union to abandon its previous demand for a right of veto over any proposed on-site inspection in its territory. The purpose of on-site inspection is to distinguish between unidentified events due to natural causes and those due to clandestine underground nuclear explosions. In the view of the Western Powers, if there is to be a reasonable chance of deterring a potential violator of the Treaty, the number of on-site inspections must bear some relationship to the total annual number of unidentified events that could be suspected of resulting from nuclear explosions. The Soviet view is that there need be no such relationship: the Soviet proposal that there should be a maximum of three inspections in the territories of each of the three original parties in any year is in our view quite inadequate to ensure effective control.

Under the system proposed by my right hon. Friend, military bases will not be inspected as such: inspection will take place in strictly defined areas where signals recorded by the control system indicate that an unidentified event has taken place.

Mr. Hector Hughes

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will state details of the identity of views between Her Majesty's Government and the United States Government arrived at in Washington last Monday on the subject of those two Governments negotiating with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Government on agreement designed to ban nuclear tests; whether agreement has yet been achieved with the United States of America regarding proposals to be placed before the Geneva Conference which resumed on 21st March; and what has resulted.

Mr. Heath

The result of our talks with the United States Government in Washington was that a set of agreed joint proposals was put forward in the Nuclear Tests Conference on 21st March by the United States delegation on behalf of both the United States and the United Kingdom. With regard to developments in the Conference since then, I have nothing to add to my reply to the hon. Gentleman the Member for Dundee, East (Mr. G. M. Thomson) on 12th April.