§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Which were the specific provisions of the UNLOSC III Text to which the British Government took exception, causing it to abstain in the final voting 1066WA on the text, although other members of the European Community found themselves able to vote in favour of it; and whether they will now make a full statement.
§ Lord BelsteadI would refer the noble Lord to the reply which I gave the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, on 5th May (Official Report, cols. 1155–8). Our objective throughout these negotiations has been to achieve a text which would be generally accepted by all parties and could be adopted by consensus. Since this objective was not met, we felt obliged to abstain, together with five other members of the European Community.