§ Dr. McDonaldasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconsider the decision not to sign the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 16 December 1966; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuardThe Government have kept this question under review, and our decision is still against ratifying the Optional Protocol at the present time. In some respects it compares unfavourably from the individual's standpoint, with the procedure established by article 25 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the United Kingdom has acceded.