HC Deb 27 March 1981 vol 1 c454W
Mr. Sproat

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement about the new Anglo-Soviet cultural agreement; if he will list the main advantages to the United Kingdom of this agreement; what discussion there was between the Soviet and British representatives when negotiating the new cultural agreement and about the continuing jamming of the British Broadcasting Corporation by the Soviet authorities; and if he is satisfied that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has already sufficiently fulfilled the cultural agreement it entered into with the United Kingdom and other countries under the Helsinki agreement.

Mr. Blaker

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. McMahon) on 23 March.—[Vol. 1, c.242.] The main advantage for the United Kingdom is that the agreement regulates and facilitates routine exchanges in the educational, scientific and cultural fields. These exchanges are a means of projecting Britain and British values in the Soviet Union. During the negotiations the British delegation made a formal statement reiterating strong objection to the jamming of the BBC by the Soviet authorities. Although generally the Soviet Union has lived up to its obligations under the cultural section of the Helsinki Final Act, the British delegation in Madrid has none the less criticised Soviet performance over, for example, access to archives.

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