Poland (Hansard, 5 February 1982)

§ Mr. Humphrey Atkins

In her reply to the hon. Member for Huntingdonshire (Mr. Major) on 4 February, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister explained the position reached in discussion in the North Atlantic Council following the declaration issued by NATO Foreign Ministers on 11 January. The Prime Minister stated that at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on 3 February, it was agreed to pursue and as necessary strengthen actions along the lines set out in the 11 January declaration. She undertook to give the House details as soon as possible of the measures being taken by Her Majesty's Government. These measures are as follows.

With respect to Poland, Her Majesty's Government:

(i) have imposed travel restrictions on Polish diplomats and certain other official Polish representatives in London and Glasgow;
(ii) will ensure that their relations with the military réegime in Poland reflect the abnormal nature of the present situation;
(iii) have increased BBC broadcasts in the Polish language to Poland;
(iv) will give financial or other assistance to help co-ordinate the efforts of those voluntary and Church agencies in Britain which are providing humanitarian aid to Poland;
(v) have agreed with other Western official creditors that the question of rescheduling of Poland's 1982 official debt should, for the time being, be held in suspense;
(vi) have placed in abeyance existing officially guaranteed credits to Poland subject to safe guarding the interests of British firms having legal binding contractual obligations;
(vii) will not for the present make available any new credits for Poland;
(viii) have agreed with our Community partners that there should be no further sales of European Community food at special prices to Poland. Funds that would have been made available for this purpose will now be diverted to the provision of humanitarian aid through the voluntary 222 agencies and Church agencies. As a result of this decision, there is up to 35 mecu (approximately £19 million) available for this purpose of which the Commission is putting forward a proposal for the early allocation of 8 mecu (approximately £4.5 million).

With respect to the Soviet Union Her Majesty's Government:

(i) have imposed additional restrictions on the travel of Soviet officials based in the United Kingdom;
(ii) will reduce the level of activity under four Anglo-Soviet technical cooperation agreements, in the fields of medicine and public health, environmental protection, agricultural research and atomic energy;
(iii) have introduced a licensing system which covers Soviet factory ships trans-shipping fish caught in United Kingdom waters;
(iv) have given notice that they intend to re-negotiate the terms of the Anglo/Soviet Treaty on Merchant Navigation;
(v) are exploring with Community partners the possibility of reclassifying the Soviet Union within the OECD export credit consensus (on which we expect early agreement in the Community) and of trade policy measures regarding Soviet exports to the Community.