YouSaid · the spoken record

Alec DOUGLAS-HOME

lines on the record: 79
first: 1971-09-24
most recent: 1973-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It is in the basic belief that man has the capacity to reject his baser instincts and accept the disciplines inherent in reconciliation that we in this Assembly should formulate our policies and lead our peoples.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“In a sense, the problems of the relationship between East and West and between the developing and the developed countries are linked, and success in dealing with the one will ease the anxieties of the other. When problems exist they can either be approached in an atmosphere of tension and conflict, as if a solution can be reached only by the victory of one side and the defeat of the other, or they can be faced in the belief that reconciliation and partnership is possible and should be pursued with relentless purpose and vigour. This Organization-I believe we ought to remind ourselves - was founded on the latter premise. That was the basis and the inspiration of the Charter. Until now it has been confounded by political distrust and, for the reasons of which I have spoken, we have left undone much that ought to have been done together.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“A pre-condition, therefore, of success is that we must get away from the concept of conflict, whether ideological or racial. We have a common and a material interest in this and it is our joint responsibility as leaders of opinion to see to it that our peoples understand the destructive implications of actions and words which are designed to fuel the fires of intolerance and, by contrast, realize the benefits which flow from partnership which is open and trustful. 131. I cannot accept that the greater East-West detente must somehow be at the expense of the developing world. The reverse should be the case. If detente means anything, it must entail a liberation of resources from both East and West — a liberation of resources for more constructive ends.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“But there is a reverse side to any coin and, as the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade put it, developing countries should bear in mind the importance of the attraction of foreign capital of conditions conducive to sustained investment. The plain fact is that private investment will not flow to the countries which do not provide the conditions in which it can bear fruit. It is therefore necessary once again to underline and emphasize that it is necessary to create an atmosphere of partnership if enough resources are to be transferred from those who have them to those who have not to make any real impact at all on the gap between the developed and the developing countries; and this applies both to official aid and to private investment. 130.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Whatever the proportions achieved, it will remain true that the private investment will play a significant role in development and I would remind this Assembly of the Pearson report, which says as follows and I quote: "There can be no doubt about the contribution which private capital can render to economic development. Indeed, dollar for dollar, it may be more effective than official aid . .. ." It is of course important that private investment should be properly integrated into the development plans and priorities of the host country. Investors should involve the nationals of the recipient State to the maximum, strive for maximum participation of local capital and reinvest a fair proportion of the profits in the enterprises of the country's enterprise which is concerned.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“For example, in terms of international aid our contribution in the United Kingdom is many times greater than that of the Soviet Union and, incidentally, it so happens that our total aid is already about 10 per cent of our expenditure of defence. In other words, as far as the United Kingdom is concerned, this is a field in which we should welcome more competition from the Soviet Union and from other countries. 129. There is, of course, the question of how much of the total flow of resources could be met by official aid and how much by private investment.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“In 1958 the Soviet spokesman stated: "The Soviet Government's proposal is to reduce the military budgets of the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France by 10 to 15 per cent and use part of the savings so effected for assistance to the under-developed countries." That was debated. It did not at that time find favour, for reasons which I think were then valid — how do you measure, for example, military budgets? — and which may still be valid now but I am not concerned in prejudging what the decision on this proposal may be not in 1958, but in 1973. But I would not like it to be thought that in other countries things have stood still on this front of aid and investment.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“That is the only condition we make, but I think it is reasonable. 128. My country continues to attach high importance to aid. Our official aid flow has steadily increased. In the two years between 1970 and 1972 it rose by nearly half &s much again and it is our intention that it should continue to grow. I was interested, in this context of aid and investment, in what Mr. Gromyko had to say yesterday [2126th meeting], and in particular in his proposal for a 10 per cent reduction in the military expenditure of the leading Powers [A/9191]. My recollections in this Assembly go back some way, and I thought I had recollected having heard this before. I was right.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“We also have undertaken to transfer economic resources and expertise to developing countries and are doing so on an expanding scale. But the word "transfer" means just what it says, at least in the short term. Money and resources, in other words, which would otherwise be available to the donor country are transferred for the benefit of another and I would invite the developing countries to recognize the problems of presentation which, for example, we in the United Kingdom have when we are speaking to our own electors. We could do a lot ourselves with the £300 million or so which we agree to transfer to others. We are willing to forgo these advantages for ourselves, but the transfer of resources must be seen to be directly related to the achievement of general prosperity all round.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“And in turn it should be clear that politicians in countries like my own which are governed by a parliamentary democracy have to satisfy their electors that the money which is deliberately being diverted from them is not only being well spent for the benefit of the recipients but to the long-term advantage for all. We in the Western countries-and here I can speak especially for the enlarged European Community-are tackling these questions with energy. The European summit conference last autumn gave to the outside world a high place in its programme. But we can be really successful only if we can move forward with the developing countries in a spirit and practice of partnership and create an atmosphere of mutual purpose and of mutual trust. So I repeat, partnership in this age and day is the key word to success. 127.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Let us recognize the situation for what it is and work together to put it right. In short, the less emotion there is, the quicker we shall get on. For partnership to work it is necessary that each understand the realities which limit the possibilities for action of the other. 126. We are-and again I make no apology for reminding the Assembly of this-we are dealing with human beings, not with units on the economist's slide rule. So the developed countries must understand the right of the newly emerging countries to be master of their own fate, to control their economic, political and social destinies. What else is nationhood about?”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Important interests of both developing and developed countries are involved and prima facie at times they seem to diverge but, again, if one looks at each one separately under those headings that I have listed, it will almost always be proved by careful analysis that the interests of the developed and the developing are complementary and not antagonistic. Our common deliberations, therefore, will be fruitful only in so far as we make a deliberate attempt to find the common interest and act on it to a point where we all can see that we can gain as well as give. We must simply not allow politics to intervene to hamper or cripple the fine economic prospects for ordinary people in developing and developed countries. I conclude from this that the key word for the future of economic development is "partnership".”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“They are all relevant to the relationship between the rich and the poor countries and during this session of the General Assembly we shall be discussing the first review and appraisal of the progress of the Second United Nations Development Decade, and I hope it is these things-and I will repeat them: investment, credit, commodity arrangements, debt, aid and trade-which will be the subjects of analysis and, if possible, of agreement. We shall not agree on every aspect of these and of other subjects.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Even if there was no conflict between East and West, and even if this conflict had not sometimes spread to the third world, we would still face the great human problems caused by the vast difference between the living standards of the developing and the developed countries because of the accidents of time. I understand the emotions which break out from time to time in the wake of the colonial era. But we have a situation now in this modern world which requires not slogans, however tempting, but cool, rational analysis and a realistic assessment of what can be done under a number of headings: investment, credit, commodity arrangements, debt, aid and trade.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“I trust that the Communist countries will be able to prove that they care for the basic freedoms of people everywhere; for, I say with great respect, it is people, not bits of paper, that politics, national and international, are about. We will try to respond in a constructive spirit in phase two of that Conference, remembering always that, as Mr. Andersen has just reminded us-and I think it is too often forgotten-that politics are also about the quality of life. 125. The other division in the world-the division between the rich and the poor countries-is just as profound and just as likely to breed tension. This is essentially an economic rather than an ideological division.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Our strong desire is that, however difficult it may be, the two political systems should live together not only without enmity but in broad accord. We will therefore take risks for peace, but at the same time we will not be duped by empty declarations into jeopardizing our security and our chosen way of life which goes with it. I would echo the words of Mr. Kissinger a few days ago [2124th meeting]: my country, like his, seeks true peace, not an armistice. Let us, therefore, share our ideas, share our resources and share our cultures. Let us resolve not to undermine but to understand, not to confront but to reconcile. We-that is, the East and the West-will have the chance to put these sentiments to the test in phase two of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“The European Community, now enlarged, is finding its own identity and looks outward to fruitful contacts with the rest of the world; and the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe has met and defined an agenda for work leading towards detente. Up till now it is no more than that, but lest we are to despair, we must recognize it as a start in reconciliation and try to build further upon it. That being said, I must make it clear that detente must be real and not an illusion. Lip service to detente which evaporates at the first test is a trap. Like so much in life it is the will to work together for the highest common factor that counts and certainly as far as my Government is concerned the will is there.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“It is not, of course, easy for Communists and the rest to live together and work together when philosophy and practice are so different, but, at long last, at least there are signs of flexibility. The United States has established a relationship with China. The Soviet Union and the United States have softened the edges of their bilateral relations. It became possible for serious negotiations to begin between the Western Allies and the East over the future of Berlin. The two German States have made real progress in their joint discussions and are now both Members of this Organization-a historic step, which my Government welcomes-and if it is followed up with tolerance and with generosity this will undoubtedly have beneficial effects in Europe.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Those who have wished to avoid the contagion of the rivalry of the great Powers have not always been able to do so. The rigid confrontation of the major Powers and the continuing escalation of force and counter- force was not only a source of grave danger in itself to the countries in the Northern Hemisphere but, worse perhaps, also paralysed the use of common resources and stultified the economic development of nations much further afield - nations that otherwise would have been able to do something to bridge the gap between the developed and the developing countries. 124. Now, at long last, these preoccupations seem to be yielding to a wider perspective.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Man has not solved his basic needs for security, for food and for shelter. At this time of the twentieth century I think we ought to remind ourselves that there is no excuse for these shortcomings apart from prejudice, fear and suspicion, for we have all the technical means that we need to provide for man's very modest needs. 123. Since 1945 the international scene has been dominated by the problems arising from the totally different social, economic and political systems of the East and West and from the aftermath of rapid decolonization. In East- West relations there have been periods of comparative calm and moments of acute peril. Coexistence has been preached. But it has meant different things to different people and the shock waves of tension between the Communists and the rest have spread, and the impact has been felt world-wide.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Herr Brandt just now said that we should talk, not shoot, and as a European I stand here to say that it was that failure in Europe which very nearly led to the destruction of our continent; and that, surely, should be a lesson for all. 122. In his thoughtful introduction to his report on the work of the Organization the Secretary-General rightly reminds us that while it is easy to criticize the limitations of the United Nations in matters affecting peace and security, the Organization, and particularly the Security Council, does have to its credit real achievements in defusing disputes. Of that at least we should remind ourselves lest we lose heart. But he would be a bold man who would say that an era of universal peace is within our grasp. War, although contained, is still with us.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“Whether peace has been forced upon us by the realization of the ultimate horror of the nuclear weapon, or whether the miseries of two world wars have taught us the bitter lesson that war solves nothing, unless it is that in the main the innocent pay the penalty, or whether the United Nations, if it has not preserved peace, has helped men to talk themselves into a more sober mood in which they realize that there are no slick answers to the modern problems of this world. Perhaps it is in fact a mixture of all three. But the hope must be that one way or another at this moment of time-late, it is true, but better late than never-the lesson of the futility of violence is being learned. 121.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“This must be the order of the day in the middle of this twentieth century. Now, however, I wish to concentrate only on two major long-term problems in the world, both profound and in the long run decisive in terms of what I shall call in shorthand the problems between East and West and North and South. 120. The first duty laid upon the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security. We have had a deeply troubled century. Twenty-one years after the First World War the world was just beginning to recover from the appalling carnage when it all started all over again. It is now 28 years since the ending of the Second World War. So far we have avoided a global holocaust, although at all times the situation has been saved only by knife-edge diplomacy. But there are signs at long last that we are just starting to learn.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“118. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to join with my colleagues in congratulating you on your high office. Ecuador will rightly feel a reflected glory. 119. Sir, I have spoken on many occasions in this Assembly and have usually felt it right to deal with the main topical and urgent issues in the field of international affairs. I do not intend to do this today. Many of them, it is true, remain as difficult and contentious as ever, but they will feature on the agenda of the various Committees of this Assembly and the views of the British Government will be explained when they come up for discussion. All of them should be soluble by patient bilateral diplomacy, assisted as the need arises — and it arises more often day by day-by the conciliation machinery of this United Nations organization for conciliation.”
1973-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 28 (1973)
“In conclusion, therefore, I believe that when we speak or write we should constantly remind ourselves of those words in the Preamble to this Charter: "to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors". Our minds admit the sense of this precept, but our acts fall far short of it. We must be vigilant and careful for our fellow men and act with urgency if we are to gain that peace with justice which all our people so intensely and insistently demand.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The second is that you should all join in calling upon General Amin to extend his arbitrary and inhumane deadline of 90 days and to allow the Asians expelled to take their belongings with them. These are two simple, humane concepts. My delegation will today request that this question should be added to our agenda as an urgent and important item. We ask that the Assembly debate this matter without delay and we are ready to submit a draft resolution-for this inhumanity which creates refugees is of international concern. I trust that it will be overwhelmingly accepted, because, should this Organization fail to do so, there is no one to whom any person, whatever the color of his skin, can turn for common justice. This is the basis of my appeal to all of you today. 119.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“There are human problems, rights and feelings which should have equal consideration. The Ugandan Government should be called upon to change its policy and treat these people with humanity and not with contempt. Injustice must be condemned wherever it rears its ugly head, whether it is perpetrated by Europeans or Africans or Asians or whoever. Every country in the Assembly, therefore, should use its influence to insist that this injustice should end. 118. I am making two direct and simple requests to you as members of the world community assembled here. The first is to show your good-neighborliness by sharing some of the practical problems of resettling these unhappy people. I am exceedingly grateful and pay a tribute to all those who have come forward with offers of help.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“As far as Uganda is concerned, this agreed program has been thrown out of the window, and the Asians have been given a time limit of 90 days in which to leave. There are now only 42 days left. President Amin has said that if the Asians have not left before that deadline he will put them into "camps". We do not accept that that deadline has any justification in law or in morality. The Government of Uganda is responsible for the proper treatment of those who have lived in that country for many years, and putting them into "camps" is contrary to all accepted standards of civilized behavior. We have an obligation to take into Britain those who are British nationals and have nowhere else to go. We will keep our word, and we will keep the law. But the law is not everything.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The Ugandan Government's action in expelling Ugandan Asians and confiscating their assets, without clear and unequivocal assurances of full and prompt compensation, illustrates the degradation to which intolerance can bring its disciples. This is an outrage against standards of human decency, in the face of which this Assembly cannot remain silent. These Asians have had their homes in Uganda, some of them for generations. They are now being ejected and stripped of most of their belongings and of their savings accumulated over many years. My Government, in spite of the fact that Britain is a small, overcrowded island, had made arrangements whereby Asians from East Africa holding British passports were coming into Britain in an orderly flow over the years.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We should do everything possible to increase co-operation among national police and security forces by encouraging the exchange of information and by taking other measures to prevent these acts and to apprehend their perpetrators. These and other measures should be considered without delay, but I repeat that action, to be effective, must be collective. We shall make our full contribution in the discussion that has already begun at this session of the General Assembly. 117. The good-neighborliness to which we are summoned by the Preamble to our Charter applies to" us all without exception. It is not limited by geography or race.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“First, on the question of hijacking, States which have not yet become parties to the Conventions of The Hague and Montreal should move with all possible speed to do so. We should also do all we can to bring into effect further measures to close every haven to the hijacker and the saboteur. The United Kingdom, at the recent meeting of the Legal Committee of the International Civil Aviation Organization, has worked actively to that end. Secondly, there are three main areas in which we should make urgent progress in dealing with the problem of international terrorism. We must agree on further obligations which States should assume in regard to the prosecution and surrender of perpetrators of terrorist acts. We should decide on further controls which could be imposed to prevent the movement of terrorists from one country to another.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The Secretary-General was right to recommend this subject for inclusion in our agenda [A/8791 and Add.l], and I am glad that the Assembly has so included it [item 92]. This question must be vigorously pursued. We in Britain will support drastic measures to stop this rot, and we welcome the initiative of Mr. Rogers! I think we must recognize that the essence of the success of any action lies in the collective application of the remedies. It is only through the international community that effective measures can be taken to end the hideous cycle of terror and violence. That is the lesson all of us in this Assembly have to accept and to apply. 116. There are certain practical steps we can all take.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“anarchy superseding the law of nations and with it the inherent challenge to all governmental authority." [Ibid., para. 87.] This is exactly what is happening now. I continued with a quotation from my statement at the 1838th meeting: '"We must call on those who have taken up arms to lay them down ... even though they claim to be carrying them in the name of justice.' " [Ibid.] 114. Now we are up against many situations in which terrorists are meting out destruction to the innocent in the name of some hideously distorted interpretation of justice. We have wasted time in these last two or three years. Terrorism must be stopped so that law and order in the world society will not be totally undermined-and we all know this in this Assembly. 115.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Rogers, Secretary of State of the United States, drew our attention on Monday [2038th meeting] to many instances of the world-wide problem of terrorism and violence. This is a disease to which many of us in this Assembly have fallen victim. We have our own special problem of indiscriminate terrorism in Northern Ireland. In 1971 in this Assembly I drew urgent attention to our responsibilities for the climate in which the terrorist operated his beastly practice. I said: "Sooner or later, uncompromising confrontation leads to violence [1944th meeting, para. 86.] I also said, ". .. time works for the anarchist". [Ibid.] I then drew the attention of this Assembly of nations to the situation which seemed certain to develop, and here you will forgive me if I quote once more: "...”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“My Government has consistently supported the mission of Mr. Jarring, the Secretary-General's Special Representative appointed under the resolution. I very much hope that in the months ahead no opportunity will be missed to work towards an end of the present confrontation with the long-drawn-out misery of the refugees which it entails, and also the ever-present threat of war. 112. In the last few months there has been a dramatic change. Egypt has dispensed with Soviet military support. It should be recognized that this step towards depolarization is an opportunity to resume the quest for a peaceful settlement. It may be fleeting, so it should be seized. Nor should we be deflected, from this aim by the cycle of violence and reprisal which has been given fresh impetus in recent weeks. 113. Mr.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“That is the last doctrine which this Assembly can accept. The Secretary-General's statements and actions since he assumed office bear witness to the fact that he has no patience with the passive acceptance of deadlock. To resolve the Middle East conflict we at the United Nations made a start by framing Security Council resolution 242 (1967). My Government continues to adhere firmly to that, resolution. It will be commonly conceded, I think, by all my colleagues who are here, that we will not arrive at any alternative framework which would command a comparable measure of consent. It is better, therefore, to stick to it. This resolution provides the essential basis of any just and durable settlement primarily because it acknowledges the essential requirements of the parties, first for withdrawal, and secondly for security. 111.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The Secretary-General, in the wise introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [A/'8701/ Add.l], has rightly drawn attention to the important signs of detente among the great Powers, signs which include the developments which I have just described. But the Secretary-General equally rightly pointed out the contrast between these signs and the persistence of conflict in several key areas of the world and the failure, both of the Governments concerned and of the international community, to find acceptable solutions to the underlying causes of the confrontation. 110. Although there are signs of rapprochement in Europe and indeed in Asia, there remain historic areas of continuing hostility. The danger in these places is that deadlock will be tacitly accepted as the best for which anyone can hope.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We willingly put our hand to that task in Western Europe and look forward to this first meeting an event in itself on a common platform of countries that are members of the Warsaw Pact Organization and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to be joined by the European neutrals. Mutual and balanced force reductions present a daunting problem because there are so many facets, military and geographical, which go to make up what is known as the balance of power in Europe, and indeed the balance of power in the world. So far it is a fact of life that it is the military balance on which the present peace rests, and that is likely to be so for some time to come. It will be our objective in all these discussions to find new approaches to neighborliness with the East, consistent with the physical security of our respective peoples. 109.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“And in this improved climate, which I think most of the speakers have marked in this debate, a European security conference may be able to identify and to exploit other areas which can be used for the common benefit both of Western Europe and of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. It will not be easy. Where social and economic systems are so different and where the gulf is so wide between the Soviet interpretation of the free life and that which is practiced in the West, it is best to try for limited objectives. But we must, if life is to be tolerable, replace the negative conception of coexistence with a fabric of trust.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Progress in detente has by any standard of tolerance been painfully slow. Nevertheless, there have been modest gains. The test-ban Treaty holds; the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks have placed a limitation on anti-ballistic missiles; the treaties between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union and between the Federal Republic and Poland are a contribution to stability, as the Polish Foreign Minister has himself just declared; the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin can do much for the security and well-being of the city's inhabitants. This is a notable contrast to the days when Berlin was threatened by isolation and the need for an airlift. We should mark that contrast. Negotiations between the Federal Republic of Germany and its East German neighbor are at last making some progress.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Can we in Western Europe extend the area of confidence and hope, a theme to which Mr. Schumann, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, spoke yesterday [2041st meeting/ with eloquence and general acceptance? For that we shall need in Western Europe the active response of the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe when the conference on security and co-operation in Europe and negotiations on mutual and balanced force reductions come to be staged. 107. We must face the facts even when they are unpleasant. Since the last World War the confrontation over the years between the Warsaw Pact countries and those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization led to an almost total loss of confidence. Western Europe had no desire for this, but the fact is that neighborliness, once confidence is broken, cannot be recreated in a day. 108.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We must find more satisfactory solutions to the problems to which UNCTAD has drawn such graphic attention. Europe, too, can make a telling contribution to solving the accumulating problems of the twentieth century, which may be grouped under the heading "the environment". I am glad to announce that, subject to parliamentary approval, the United Kingdom will contribute up to £ 2 million over a five-year period to the proposed United Nations Environment Fund, depending on the response made to the $100 million target. 105. In all these ways, the enlarged European Community will pass the test of neighborliness which is set in the preamble to the United Nations Charter, in terms both of its own membership and of its future relationship with the rest of the world. 106.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“104. In each of the last three years the total flow of resources from Britain multilateral and bilateral, private and public to developing countries to help them raise their standard of living has been over the target of 1 per cent of our gross national product. The existing members of the Community have already played a notable part in this international effort. But I believe that the European Community as a whole can make a much more effective contribution by co-ordinating the efforts of individual member States in a conscious, co-operative program for the development of the developing world. The deliberations of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development fUNCTAD/ in 1972, in which we were glad to play a leading part, serve to remind us how complete is our interdependence.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The call for the policies of the good neighbor in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations finds an echo in the Preamble to the Treaty of Rome, where the purpose of the Community is stated thus: "Desirous of contributing by means of a common commercial policy to the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade" and "intending to confirm the solidarity which bind Europe and overseas countries, and desiring to ensure the development of their prosperity, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations".8 So the Community has explicitly shown that it is pursuing the same objectives as the United Nations, a fact of undeniable importance when it is realized-as perhaps it seldom is that the Community conducts 41 per cent of the trade of the world and that Europe's contribution will be of great importance in the discussions of, for example, international monetary reform.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“For the United Kingdom, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, any form of narrow European isolation would be totally alien to our whole philosophy. But there is no question of any such thing. No one contemplates that in the European Community.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Western Europe, late in the day but better late than never is putting into practice for the common good a philosophy which embraces full economic and political partnership. We are doing so for two overriding reasons: to outlaw the wars which have twice brought the continent to its knees and to enhance by a customs union the prosperity of the member States. We do not intend to lose our national identities but to merge our complementary personalities for the greater good of all. These developments must be of profound significance in the context of the wider world. 103. Were the Community to confine its benefits to the compass of its own membership, it would be missing its opportunity in terms of the general health of the world community. An inbred and introvert community could indeed invite trade wars and stimulate selfishness.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We organized accordingly and, although at great cost, Western Europe has enjoyed physical security. As long as there is a threat we will sustain the necessary effort. 101. But, in addition to defense, national leaders have two responsibilities which must run in harness. The first is to achieve for their people a continuing improvement in the standards of education and living and the second is to guide their country's policies so as to contribute to harmony in international society. Civilization for man can thrive only in a climate of peace. 102. At this point of history, therefore, the public experiment in partnership being conducted by the enlarged European Community is of prime importance.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The United Nations was born from the death and destruction of two world wars in this century in which it was proved beyond any doubt that there is no longer any gain, economic or political, to be won from aggression. Those wars started in Europe. It is not therefore surprising that we have concluded in Western Europe that there is no future for any country in trying to achieve its economic or political aims by the use of force, and we are combining to remove the past rivalries in Europe and the causes of them. It is only when that lesson, which we have painfully learned, gains universal support that we shall have fulfilled the precept of this Charter which requires us to live as good neighbors. We long ago decided that collective action was necessary to meet any potential aggressor.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Mr. President, I should like to start by echoing the congratulations which my colleagues have extended to you on your assumption of office as President of the twenty- seventh session of the General Assembly. It is a tribute to you and to your country. 99. As this is the first time that I have addressed the Assembly since the election of the Secretary-General, I should like to take this opportunity also to salute him. He has proved in the last nine months our wisdom in electing him and he has brought to this Organization the same dedication and the same talents he gave to his own country as diplomat and Foreign Minister. 100. There is an arresting phrase in the Preamble to the United Nations Charter. It bids us all "to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors".”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“To break the present stalemate In a number of the confrontations will not solve the problems of the world; but we can In this Assembly give the world a sharper instrument for peace, That will narrow the area for the anarchist and his operations and broaden the rule of law.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)