§ Mr. SpellarTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the Arab boycott of Israel; and what recent initiatives his Department has taken.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWe have always condemned the boycott as iniquitous and incompatible with the spirit of the peace process. We continue to seek Arab agreement to end it—we initiated an EC démarche last autumn under our presidency. The response to this demarche, and to numerous bilateral approaches made by the United Kingdom, has been uneven. But we are encouraged by signs that some Arab countries are enforcing the requirements of the boycott less rigorously, and in particular by recent reports that Kuwait will cease to apply the boycott to third countries.