§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will restrict the value of United Kingdom arms exports to the Third world to below the level of United Kingdom development assistance to the Third world.
§ Mr. LuceThere is no link between arms exports and levels of development assistance.
All arms sales are subject to export licence control. It would not be sensible to deny to our customers the arms they judge necessary to be able to defend themselves. They are sovereign states with the right of self defence under article 51 of the UN charter and the right to decide their own expenditure priorities.
§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on international negotiations to limit the supply of arms to the Third world.
§ Mr. LuceWe support the conclusions of the United Nations study on all aspects of the conventional arms race and conventional disarmament. The study proposed that
major suppliers and recipients engage in consultations to explore possible bases for reaching agreements to restrain the transfer of arms;and thatany such arrangement would need to be accompanied by wider supplier/recipient negotiations, perhaps on a regional basis.