HC Deb 31 January 1968 vol 757 cc349-50W
Mr. Norwood

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why he authorised the issue of a statement prejudging the facts concerning the arrest of the United States espionage vessel "Pueblo" off North Korea and giving unqualified support to the actions of the United States.

Mr. Goronwy Roberts

In reply to a Question during a daily news conference a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We deplore the seizure of a vessel which was in international waters".

As my right hon. Friend told the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Eldon Griffiths) on 26th January, on all the evidence available, he was satisfied that the "Pueblo" was seized while on the high seas. The United States Representative at the United Nations has substantiated this fact in the Security Council, citing monitored North Korean naval messages, which indicate not only that the vessel was in international waters but that the North Koreans knew that it was.—[Vol. 757, c. 742.]