East-West Relations

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:50 pm on 28 January 1980.

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Photo of Mr James Lamond Mr James Lamond , Oldham East 5:50, 28 January 1980

My hon. Friend is entitled to his opinion about these matters. I go by what I see and what I read in newspapers. The fact is that the agreement has been before Congress for a long time, attempts have been made to get it ratified and Congress has been stalling. It may be that the persuasive powers of President Carter and others would have convinced Congress about the importance of supporting it. The speech which President Carter made when he came back from his meeting with President Brezhnev bears out strongly that it would have been advantageous to the United States to sign the SALT II agreement. Perhaps Congress did not believe him and that is why it stalled for so long.

I remind the House of another little matter. Proposals were made in Berlin on 6 October by President Brezhnev to hold further talks about nuclear missiles. At the same time, he made announcements—not proposals—about the withdrawal of troops and tanks. The right hon. Lady the Prime Minister brushed these aside with disdain as being of no interest. Long before Afghanistan, she was taking this attitude. Is it surprising that the Soviet Union begins to think that responses of the kind she has now made are nothing new and do not arise from Afghanistan? The decision made in Brussels on 12 December to go ahead with the siting of United States nuclear missiles in Great Britain and other Western European countries was a major setback for detente. It has been demonstrated that the missiles would be entirely within the control of the United States. That was long before Afghanistan.

Hon. Members on the Government Benches, and probably also hon. Members on the Labour Benches, who believe that the action of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan was sufficient to bring down the blind for a long time on any talks about detente should put themselves in the position of the Soviet Union, which viewed the decision by NATO members at Brussels to go ahead with the missiles as just as big a blow to detente and future discussions as we view the Afghanistan situation. It is possible that after NATO's decision to set up missile bases, the Soviet Union decided that detente and discussions were dead for a long time and that the bases could be regarded only as a direct threat to itself.

The Government's cold war hysteria began a long time ago. It did not simply follow the Afghanistan incident. One is reminded of what happened in the First World War when even a German dachshund dog was not safe walking the streets in this country because people were trying to take revenge. I can recall that stones were thrown through the window of the house of a lord provost in Aberdeen who happened to have a rather German name. One can easily stir up the sort of hysteria seen from hon. Members on the Government Benches. This is reflected in an incident last Thursday evening when the president of the World Peace Council, an Indian, came from Vienna to a meeting that had been organised here for a purpose, we are told, that must still be encouraged. These were talks about disarmament organised by trade unionists, Members of Parliament and people from other walks of life. But so much hysteria had been created that even the Home Secretary was galvanised into taking action and he signed an order preventing Mr. Romesh Chandra from entering the country. I am not surprised that Government Members say "Hear, hear." They are afraid to hear anyone else's opinion.

Viscount Cranborne: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I think that I am right in recalling that last Friday the hon. Member for Oldham, East (Mr. Lamond) raised this point as a matter connected with leisure. How can it have now become—I seek your advice—a matter to do with East-West relations?