§ 48. Sir T. Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on what grounds he proposed to the Soviet Government that British claims against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for assets seized by that country in 1940 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania should be waived, while Baltic assets in the United Kingdom are confiscated and used as part payment for British creditors of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; what is the value of the respective claims including accrued interest; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Goronwy RobertsThe reason for Her Majesty's Government's agreement to the settlement recorded in the joint statement issued on 13th February was its concern for the interests of United Kingdom claimants who had been waiting for many years and on whose behalf successive Governments had been negotiating since 1959. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary told the hon. Member for South Angus (Mr. Bruce-Gardyne) on 27th February, it 225W would be misleading at this time to disclose the value of the claims on either side or of any particular category of claim.—[Vol. 742, c. 16–17.]