§ Mr. Fordasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the criteria he uses when deciding whether or not a foreign régime is objectionable and thereby deserving of 39W a gesture of disapproval from Great Britain.
§ Mr. EnnalsI would refer my hon. Friend to what my right hon. Friend said during the foreign affairs debate on 19th March
Nations often find themselves in the same difficult position as individuals. We frequently have dealings with people whose politics we disagree with and whose actions we dislike. So it is with countries. There are nations whose internal repression of their citizens we deplore. Whether such nations fall on the right or on the left of the political spectrum, the case for speaking is even stronger when silence might be deemed to be consent or indifference. The violation of human rights has the same degrading consequence for the individual as for the State which practises it whether he resides in a country that calls itself left or right.More than ever we are part of one world in terms of human rights, in terms of the need for defence co-operation, or the need to overcome the world's interlocking problems in economic, energy and monetary matters."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 19th March 1974; Vol. 870, c. 874.]