HC Deb 21 July 1961 vol 644 c176W
Mr. Longden

asked the Lord Privy Seal when the last attempt was made to negotiate the special agreements which, under Article 43 of the United Nations Charter, are a condition precedent to the placing by member States of armed forces at the disposal of the Security Council; why that attempt failed to produce such agreements; and what are the present prospects of negotiating such agreements.

Mr. Heath

Although the Security Council remains seized of the question of the special agreement referred to in Article 43 of the United Nations Charter, and although the Military Staff Committee still meets, there has been no progress since the period 1946–48 in the implementation of Article 43.

The Security Council was unable at that time to resolve the deadlock which emerged in the Military Staff Committee on the general principles for the organisation of the armed forces contemplated under Article 43, and by 1948 the discussion had come to a standstill.

There is no evidence to suggest that the prospects for negotiating such agreements are any better today than they were in 1948.