HL Deb 14 April 1980 vol 408 cc108-9WA
Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will place in the Library the English translation of the 1980 edition of the Party Activist's Booklet published in Moscow which seeks to support the Soviet Government's claim that holding the Olympic Games in Moscow is a testimony of the "correctness" of Soviet foreign policy.

Lord CARRINGTON

There is not, to my knowledge, an English translation of theParty Activist's Handbook. I shall, however, place in the library an English translation of extracts dealing with the Olympic Games.

Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will summarise the promises given by the Soviet Government in the Helsinki Final Act that are relevant to the holding of the Olympic Games in Moscow and the preparation for them; and to what extent they are satisfied that they have been and will be "fulfilled in practice" as claimed in the Party Activist's Booklet (1980).

Lord CARRINGTON

Several aspects of Soviet preparations for the Moscow Olympics—for example, recent arrests of dissidents and other measures to limit contacts between Olympic visitors and Russians—are contrary to the Helsinki Final Act. Soviet implementation of many provisions of the Final Act has been wholly inadequate, and there is no sign of any improvement either in the Olympic or other contexts.

Lord CHELWOOD

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the holding of the 1980 Olympics yachting events in Estonia, a country the occupation of which by the Soviet Union is not recognised de jure by Her Majesty's Government and other leading democracies, creates a precedent the implications of which were understood and approved by the British members of the International Olympic Committee as trustees for the Olympic ideal, and what advice, if any, was sought from the Foreign Office.

Lord CARRINGTON

No advice was sought from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. I cannot answer for the British members of the International Olympic Committee. The Government's view of the holding of these events in Estonia was given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in answer to a Question in another place on 5th March.