YouSaid · the spoken record

Geoffrey HOWE

lines on the record: 171
first: 1983-09-24
most recent: 1988-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
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

“But in the last resort it is the Governments and peoples of the countries concerned that must work out their own destiny. We support their own strong determination to that end and we will work to sustain our own partnership with them. There is a new spirit throughout the world in seeking to live up to the undertakings which we have all given under the United Nations Charter. There is a new resolve to put this Organization to work for our common good. We must sustain that spirit and that resolve in the year ahead.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“We will continue to do all we can to help. We can now build further on our partnership with the countries concerned, Disparities between rich and poor cannot be reduced overnight. It will be a long process. Aid can help. So, too, can the creation of more open conditions for international trade, and likewise internal economic reform, within the framework of structural adjustment and with adequate support from other countries. That is the importance of relieving the burden of debt on those least able to bear it. These are all matters in which Britain will continue to play a prominent, and in many respects a catalytic, role. The proposals on debt relief which we launched over a year ago are now coming to fruition. This opens the way for a number of countries to benefit from rescheduling on concessional terms before the end of the year.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“In the face of such disparate and complex issues it is not always easy for the international community to act. None the less, the greater the degree of unity we can display, the greater our chances of finding solutions. I am convinced that we can go further together. I began by speaking about my recent visit to Africa and of how different countries, helped by the international community, are coping with man-made as well as natural hazards. In each of the five African countries I visited I was enormously conscious of the economic problems with which they are grappling. Their experience is mirrored in other continents. So we warmly welcomed the positive conclusion last weekend of the meeting under United Nations auspices which reviewed the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Drugs and terror are partners in crime. We must be partners within this Organization in fighting them. We must be partners, too, in fighting afflictions which are not man-made but which require human resource to solve. When AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) first started, there was a tendency to put up moral barricades, maximize blame and minimize action. Now we know better. In January, Ministers of Health from all over the world met in London to discuss the problem openly, compare our experience and co-operate in finding solutions. In the face of such disparate and complex issues it is not always easy for the international community to act. None the less, the greater the degree of unity we can display, the greater our chances of finding solutions.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Individually, many nations may feel they are victims of forces beyond their control. Together, the international community has a power immeasurably greater than the greatest threat. We must create powerful weapons for ourselves, above all by denying the use of the financial system to those that profit from this trade and by preventing funds from being ploughed back into that trade, through co-operation to seize drug traffickers' assets wherever they are. My own country has adopted legal powers to help do this. We cannot act alone. We urge the international community to consider similar action. With the terrorist, the hijacker, the drug trafficker, we have to find ways of directly attacking the environment which sustains him. We must deny him the life support of finance or the comfort of a bolt hole on the other side of a frontier.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“We can extend our co-operation into new areas to deal with new challenges to international peace and stability, challenges which postdate the creation of the United Nations itself. The battle against international terrorism is one such. Following the hijacking of KU 422 in April, Britain launched an initiative which led to an agreement in the International Civil Aviation Organization on the detaining of hijacked aircraft so as to contain the spreading of a hijack crisis from one country to another. We must build on that measure to strengthen international protection against future hijackings. The evil of drug-related crime also challenges us to a united response. In some parts of the world the malevolent forces of drug trafficking do as much damage as traditional armed conflict.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“This type of internal problem poses particular difficulties for the international community. We must work hard to find answers. I welcome the resumption of the peace process in Cyprus. The Secretary-General has met the leaders of the two communities on the island. Agreement has been created on negotiating a just and lasting settlement by 1 June next year. As we meet here, another international event is under way on the far side of the world. In Seoul, in Korea, the hosting of the Olympic Games is a tribute to the remarkable political and economic progress made in that country. We welcome the recent contacts between North and South: we hope that they will contribute to the improvement in atmosphere that will one day lead to the Korean people being properly represented with us here in this institution.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“The tragedy of the Lebanon is an example of such sub-national conflict that divides a country down the middle and at the same time extends beyond its borders. We can think of other examples. Earlier this month, in Sudan, I saw the tragic consequences of an internal conflict unresolved. And the conflict in Ethiopia has exacerbated the horrors of famine and starvation in that country. In Burma, we have been appalled at the killing of unarmed demonstrators, women and children, which has taken place over the past three months. Such violence will solve nothing. The Burmese authorities must recognize that the only way to a lasting solution to the country's internal crisis lies in meeting the desire of the Burmese people for greater freedom and multi-party democracy.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Regarding one dispute with which Britain itself is concerned, let me just say one thing; the right of the Falkland islanders to self-determination cannot be compromised, hat my country will continue energetically to seek ways of restoring more normal relations with Argentina. Regional disputes around the world are by no means all or even the worst of our problems today. Conflicts within a nation pose some of the most complicated and intractable problems facing the international community. Often they are at a level deeper than a dispute between one nation State and the next. Often they escape the procedures and the mechanisms by which we are accustomed to operate. Yet the way in which they dislocate the very fabric of nationhood is itself a cause of tension and a challenge for the international community.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“That injustice is aggravated, not alleviated, by terrorist attacks against Israel. And the violent suppression of Palestinian aspirations jeopardizes the search for a peaceful settlement. The international community cannot afford to give up the search for peace. The need for an international conference involving the five permanent members of the Security Council is more vital than ever. We shall be persistent in our efforts to help create the conditions in which such a conference can be held. In Western Sahara, we have been the two sides to a dispute brought together by the commendable efforts of the Secretary-General. They have accepted that a referendum is the only way of resolving their differences. I hope that this new willingness to seek peaceful solutions will prove contagious.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Our aid to South Africa's neighbours since 1980 is worth well over £1 billion. We supply defence assistance to Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The Limpopo railway is being repaired with British help and defended by Mozambican troops trained in Zimbabwe by British army officers. We give aid to black groups and individuals within South Africa so that they can educate themselves, build their own enterprises and free themselves from the oppression of apartheid. In southern Africa, the parties to a longstanding dispute seem at last to be seeking agreement within the framework of a Security Council resolution. The principles of a settlement in the Middle East were similarly laid down in a Security Council resolution 21 years ago. They are no less valid today. Israel and the Palestinians have a historic sense of injustice.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“A settlement in Angola and the independence of Namibia would not in themselves resolve the intractable problems of South Africa. The principle at stake there is a simple one; the liberty and dignity of the individual. We are committed to the abolition of the system of apartheid, which stifles liberty and denies dignity. We have to find the lever that will effect that change. We do not believe that comprehensive sanctions are that lever. Some see sanctions as a political gesture which should be made almost for its own sake, but it would be an empty gesture. It would be a gesture with too high a price attached; too high a price in terms of the millions of black jobs, black livelihoods, which would be at stake. Our goal is the same as that of our friends in Africa. We are doing all we can to bring apartheid to an end.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“We hope the recent reaffirmation of the Nkomati accord represents a commitment by South Africa to the stability of the region as a whole. It will require from Angola a determined effort to achieve reconciliation within Angola, where the Cuban presence has helped to make an international issue of what is essentially a matter for internal resolution. Just as Security Council resolution 435 (1978) has stood the test of time, so too has the British Government's commitment to act in its support. We long ago offered to provide a signals unit to the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG). We remain ready to play our part, and are ready, with our partners in the European Community, to offer assistance to an independent Namibia.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Just as in the Gulf one resolution of the Security Council offers the prospect of peace, so in southern Africa another resolution offers similar hope of a peaceful end to an old dispute. Ten years ago tomorrow Security Council resolution 435 (1978) was adopted. It remains the best framework for independence for Namibia. The first crucial step has been taken in South Africa's withdrawal from Angola and the establishment of an effective cease-fire. The next task is to achieve the withdrawal of South African forces from Namibia; and all Cuban forces from Angola and free- elections in Namibia, leading to independence. That will require enormous ingenuity, perseverance and compromise. It will require from South Africa a new respect for the integrity of its independent neighbours.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Viet Nam cannot by itself sustain its occupation; its own economy is in ruins. One consequence of Viet Nam's policy has been the huge exodus of its own people in boats to Hong Kong and other destinations. It is time for this tragic migration to cease, time for Viet Nam to take back its own people in humane fashion. Hong Kong's policy of seeking to return those people who are not genuine refugees is the only way to cope with what would otherwise be an unmanageable influx. We also think the time is now right to look closely at ways of promoting a settlement in Cambodia. The aim should be to secure the early and unconditional withdrawal of Vietnamese forces and a political settlement to give Cambodia a stable and secure Government, that must by definition preclude a return to the horrors of the Pol Pot regime.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“This may well reflect a new realism in Moscow, but it is also a consequence of the courage and determination of the Afghan people and of the sustained and overwhelming support of this General Assembly. Tens of thousands of Afghans have died. Millions have been driven from their homes. That is why we now look forward to the complete and prompt withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Afghan people as a whole must then be given the chance to select a truly representative government by a genuine act of self-determination. Only then can Afghanistan start to live again. It is possible now to perceive as well that universal condemnation of Viet Nam's illegal occupation of Cambodia is also having its effect. Britain was among the first to insist that Viet Nam must withdraw from Cambodia unconditionally and quickly.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Shevardnadze endorsed in his statement yesterday, is that the rule of law and the right of the individual to determine his own future are inseparable. More widely than that, if we can establish confidence in East-West relations we can harness energies which have too often pulled in different directions, and put them to constructive work. The place to do that is the United Nations. There are many tasks, many regional conflicts, but also growing signs that progress is possible. Recent developments over Afghanistan are one example. Eight years after its forces invaded Afghanistan the Soviet Union has finally begun to take them home. Over half have now left.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Of course we want to see success in the negotiations between Washington and Moscow for a reduction in strategic weapons, but we want to see early progress as well in cutting the conventional imbalances in Europe, which prejudice the security of millions of people. Arms-control negotiations no longer bear the full burden of East-West relations. They remain a vital component in the creation of a climate of confidence. So too does the search for a world-wide pattern of respect for human rights and freedom. In Europe we look for further progress in this regard from an early conclusion of the Vienna Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. The fundamental principle, which we have long proclaimed and which Mr.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles - the INF Treaty - the Washington and Moscow summits and the Moscow Party Conference have all been remarkable in their separate ways. Perhaps just as significant has been the recent acknowledgement by Mr. Shevardnadze that foreign policy is no longer to be seen in Moscow as a special form of class struggle. "The struggle between the opposing systems", he said, "is no longer a determining tendency of the present era". I believe that most of the members of this Assembly will say "amen" to that. No longer, to paraphrase Clausewitz, need foreign policy be the continuation of class warfare by other means. Even so, progress on arms-control talks would not have been made without the constant and united determination of the members of the North Atlantic alliance.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“At the special session in June I made important proposals to strengthen the international standards of the 1925 Geneva Protocol. So today I welcome President Reagan's proposal to reconvene the 1925 Geneva Conference to mobilize the international community behind the search for a convention on chemical weapons which would outlaw their use. Co-operation on the resolution of the Iran-Iraq conflict has been unique. But it must not be the only example of the constructive exercise of shared responsibility among the permanent members of the Security Council. There are grounds for hoping that will not be the case, for we have also been witnessing this year a change in the atmosphere which increases the scope for such co-operation. East-West relations themselves have moved on to a new footing.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Under Security Council resolution 620 (1988), the Secretary-General can conduct a prompt and independent inquiry. The need for such an inquiry is evident. The refusal of Iraq to co-operate in such an inquiry is all the more to be deplored, because the spread of chemical weapons is one of the most disturbing of recent developments. As more countries develop a chemical-weapons capability, the risk of the increased use of these weapons as an instrument of war and terror multiplies. It is for that reason that Britain has taken a lead in preparing an international convention for the world-wide suppression of chemical weapons and in pressing the crucial case for greater openness in this field. Nowhere is glasnost more necessary.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“The Secretary-General must be allowed to build on the cease-fire so as to arrange the withdrawal of forces and the repatriation of prisoners of war. The framework for peace is Security Council resolution 598 (1987), which provides for negotiations under the auspices of the Security Council. Britain will do all in its power to sustain the spirit of co-operation and to contribute to a peaceful settlement. If the international community can find a way forward on the dispute between Iran and Iraq it cannot ignore the plight of the Kurds, driven from their homes not by natural disaster but by unnatural force and brutality. The containment of conflict in one form must not lead to its prosecution in another. The charge that Iraq has used chemical weapons against the Kurds adds gravity to the situation.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“That power, the power of veto, carries with it a special responsibility, a responsibility that has rarely been exercised. But the last year has witnessed the development of a new co-operation among the five. It began tentatively; it was pursued pragmatically; but it was born of principle as well as pragmatism, of a combined determination to do all we could together to bring an end to the devastation of a senseless war. That determination, coupled with the skill, patience and persistence of the Secretary-General, culminated in the successful achievement of a cease-fire. Now the action has switched from the battleground to the negotiating table, from the banks of the Tigris to the banks of the East River.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“I said then: "The blunt truth is that the way in which the United Nations handles the conflict between Iran and Iraq must have a decisive effect upon its reputation in the eyes of all the peoples whom we represent." (A/42/PV.8, p. 58) I called then for a degree of unity which the international community had rarely been able to achieve, and a year later the scene that then seemed so dark and hopeless has been lighted by the united efforts of the international community. Many factors have helped to foster this change; the realization by Iran and Iraq that war to the death would mean mutual destruction the spirit and resolve of the Secretary-General and his dedicated staff; and, perhaps above all, the part played by the Security Council and its five permanent members. The permanent members are given a unique power under the Charter.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Yet sadly, in the face of man-made disasters we have not so far been able to respond in such a United and effective way. Their causes are more complex, their effects are equally devastating, and they too demand our utmost and our urgent energy and ingenuity. This year we have broken the pattern of the past by applying the principles of the Charter to the resolution of a lengthy and bloody dispute, the conflict between Iran and Iraq. Each one of us here is committed, bindingly committed, to the Charter of the United Nations; not just to words on a page, but to fundamental principles of·' justice and international law. It was those principles that I had in mind when I spoke here a year ago at the height of the Iran-Iraq war.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“We are totally dependent on climate. Damage it beyond repair, and the earth becomes a Lifeless desert spinning in space. We cannot leave a problem of this magnitude to technical bodies. Britain is among those who have pressed for a serious debate on the subject within the United Nations. Last year we welcomed the Brundtland report, the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. We want to carry forward its work. So we welcome the forthcoming discussion in the Second Committee. The problem must command an urgent place on the world agenda. It is in the face of natural disaster that we are made most vividly aware of the fragility and interdependence of human existence. Faced with the enormity of the difficulties, the speed and universality of response are extraordinary.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Some of its present transformation is good. Its resources are being better used for the benefit of mankind. But other elements are leading to a progressive pollution of the land, the sea and the air. There has already been some disruption of natural patterns. Damage to the ozone layer, first identified by the British Antarctic Survey in 1985, caused instant international alarm. That concern has already led to agreement to limit the production of certain industrial chemicals. The possibility of climatic change caused by the increase in the greenhouse gases, leading to a global heat trap, has become a real concern. The increases predicted in global temperatures would have substantial effects, within the next few decades, on life and human society. Even small variations would have great consequences in a crowded world.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Alongside them were tents from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Nations from all over the world had come to Sudan's aid. The following day I flew to Kenya, where pictures of the famine and suffering in southern Sudan were front-page news in the Nairobi press. The tragedies that have been occurring this year are seen and felt by people in towns and cities around the globe, and the world community has responded with rarely equalled sympathy and generosity. My own country alone has this year contributed some £80 million to disaster relief around the world. The total contributed by the Western democracies is likely to have been at least 10 times that amount. These immediate natural disasters are a poignant reminder of the need to tackle an issue that is of longer term but crucial for us all; the health of our planet as a whole.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“Sir, may I offer you my congratulations on taking up the presidency of the General Assembly and send my warm thanks to the outgoing President, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic. This has been a year of unprecedented natural disaster. No outsider can fully share the tragedy of the flooding in Bangladesh. The hurricane devastation in the Caribbean and Mexico has horrified us all. From South Asia, through Africa, to the Caribbean and even to the grain belt of America, we have seen destruction on a scale rarely equalled before. Last week I was in Africa. I went first to the Sudan. I saw there the devastation caused by the recent floods and the brave efforts of the Sudanese Government and people to cope with that crisis. I visited a refugee camp of 500 tents supplied by Britain, made in Malta.”
1988-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 43 (1988)
“In opening the first General Assembly session in London, Clement Attlee, then British Prime Minister, described the simple truth behind the formation of the United Nations; "The realization by all nations that without co-operation for peace there can be no security for any nation". That is still the most basic truth. That is why we are here.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“But there is still a long way to go. For our part we have worked intensively to build up the East-West dialogue. The visit to Moscow by the British Prime Minister and myself in March was an occasion for unusually deep and valuable exchanges. They will continue. At the beginning of this statement I spoke of a moment of hope. The INF agreement and the impending summit between President Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev are indeed reason for hope. I think it will be the prayer of every one of us here that' that still faint shaft of light will grow and will drive the shadows of fear and distrust ever backward until they ate finally eliminated from this world.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“But an INF agreement will begin to erode the thick ice-cap of mistrust that has accumulated over the years. Of course the melting process will itself release dangerous ice blocks and floes around which we shall all have to navigate with care. The key is greater trust. If we can see the Soviet Union making a genuine effort to co-operate in solving the world's regional tensions; if we can see them putting the solution of such tensions before the pursuit of national interest; if we can see a more just, free and humane society developing in the Soviet Union, then I think we shall see greater trust between East and West. I am not unhopeful. The co-operation between the Five on Security Council resolution 598 (1987) may be a sign of better things to come; and the· last year has seen real progress on human rights in the Soviet Union.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“An INF agreement which, for the first time ever, bites into the nuclear arsenals of each side, which, for the first time ever, provides for stringent verification - such an agreement should significantly increase the mutual confidence without which any significant progress in East-West relations is unattainable. We have not suddenly arrived at some promised land, but an INF agreement will give a shot of adrenalin to the often lethargic and lumbering process of arms control. The next priorities are a 50 per cent cut in the strategic arsenals of the super-Powers, a world-wide ban on chemical weapons, the removal of imbalances in conventional weapons from the Atlantic to the Orals. They are complex and difficult and will test to the utmost the skill, patience and determination of both sides' negotiators.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The arms control agreement announced last week by the United States and Soviet Foreign Ministers has lit a beacon of hope for all those who see in greater co-operation and mutual trust between the super-Powers the key to a less troubled world, for the hope must be that an intermediate-nuclear-force (INF) treaty, once concluded, will have benefits extending beyond the agreement itself. It has always been clear that arms control cannot on its own carry the weight of placing and keeping East-West relations on an even keel. Indeed, recent years have shown how difficult it is to make progress in arms negotiations if relations between East and West are generally sour. But these things do cut both ways.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“But the Soviet leaders must make the necessary leap of Imagination if glasnost and perestroika are to have the effect that they should on Soviet foreign, as well as domestic, policy. The Soviet Union can reasonably seek to avoid instability or threats to its security on its borders. But it must accept that only when a government emerges in Afghanistan that truly commands the confidence and trust of the Afghan people, only then will Afghanistan be stable. The Soviet Union must grasp the nettle: it must withdraw its troops and let the Afghan people decide their own future. So yet again we meet in the shadow of numerous conflicts. But the gloom is not unbroken.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“But the Soviet Union of today is not the Soviet Union which invaded Afghanistan. Since he took over the reins of power, Mr. Gorbachev has made a remarkable effort to reform, to restructure, to let in light and air from the outside. We have publicly applauded this, and we wish him well. We believe that a more prosperous and efficient Soviet Union will be easier for the world to live with and for its own citizens to live in. I believe that Mr. Gorbachev knows that he needs a stable international environment to carry out his programme of reform. I detect a genuine wish to find a way to end the war in Afghanistan and to bring Soviet soldiers back from the rocky valleys where so many of them have fallen. Of course that is not an easy task.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Here, too, long-term security can only be assured by a peaceful settlement reached with the free consent of all its peoples, democratically expressed. That is why we welcomed the agreement signed by the five Central American Presidents in Guatemala in August. We wish it every success. It is true too in the South Atlantic. We shall continue to look for ways of restoring more normal relations with Argentina while upholding the Falkland Islanders' rights to self-determination. This universal truth applies to Asia as well, and nowhere more than in Afghanistan. During eight years of Soviet occupation, tens of thousands have been killed and 5 million refugees have been driven to leave their country. That is a bitter indictment of Soviet polices and a grave burden for Pakistan, which has shouldered it nobly.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The huge and urgent task of agricultural reform is to recreate market incentives and progressively to eliminate protectionist measures around the world. Food must be on the agenda whenever nations gather for discussion. It will be much on our minds at next month's important meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in Vancouver, to which Britain much looks forward. .In Europe in the last 40 years we have shown that the divisions of history can be healed by wholly peaceful means, by political co-operation and by economic integration. Military force, as we Europeans know to our cost, seldom brings a lasting solution to anything) it can be only a last resort when everything else has failed. That is just as true in Central America.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“This means converting aid loans into grants, rescheduling official loans with longer grace periods, and reducing interest rates on official loans. Already in this region we have written off aid debts to the tune of £244 million. Yet despite all our efforts, glut and famine still disfigure the world. In the industrial countries we subsidize our farmers to produce food nobody wants and sell it below the cost of production. In developing countries, the subsidy, if there is one, goes to the consumer, and price control deprives the farmer of the incentive to produce more. So he leaves the land to find work in the city - and his Government has to buy from abroad the food he would have produced. The cost to the world and the waste are enormous.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The United Kingdom knows that difficult decisions are needed. We call on both sides to show the necessary courage. And, in Korea, the United Kingdom notes with close interest the recent moves to restart dialogue between North and South. We support moves to reduce the tensions in that divided peninsula. We hope that the Korean people may soon be represented here. All these political problems demand the urgent attention of the United Nations. So do those in the economic field, which directly affect so many Member States. One economic burden, one which has featured prominently in many speeches from this rostrum, is the cycle of debt. Here Britain has recently put forward an initiative to help the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa, which are striving to set their economies on a sustainable basis for development.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The European Community is one of the most successful examples in history of making shared values and aspirations rise from the ashes of war and division. Yesterday's speech by the Foreign Minister of Denmark, which now holds the presidency, was eloquent testimony to our progress towards "ever closer union". In Sri Lanka there are hopeful signs that ethnic conflicts might be ended. The agreement between President Jayawardene and Mr. Gandhi is a bold step forward. The deplorable terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka President last month underlined the dangers besetting those who work for an agreement of this kind. They displayed great courage. Everyone must now work for its continuing success. Likewise in Cyprus we support the Secretary-General's efforts to bring the two sides towards a settlement.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The United Kingdom is taking a lead in helping the front-line States: for some of them we are giving practical help in training and equipping their military forces to ensure the security of their transport links; for others we have given extensive aid to develop alternative transport systems and to pay for training and equipment. Our aid to the States of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) over the last five years totals more than $1 billion. Few if any of the States represented here today can match that record. South Africa is by far the world's worst example of racial intolerance. But very few areas of the world are free from quarrels founded on differences of race, religion or language. Such quarrels need not be insoluble.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The answer cannot lie in further measures which would serve only to unite the whites against the world, to slow the process of change, to prolong apartheid, and to blight the lives of the very people we wish to help. Yet we must maintain the moral pressure on the rulers of South Africa. They must not be allowed to put their faith in the status quo. We must convince them that peace and security can be achieved only through genuine dialogue with the leaders of the other races, and by comprehensive reform. We are working to that end. Of course, apartheid afflicts not only those who live in South Africa; it also destabilizes South Africa's neighbours.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“All the lessons of history tell us that. Apartheid breeds discontent, violence and revolution. We understand the seething discontent of the black population, who can fall to be moved by the thought that a whole generation as come of age while Nelson Mandela has remained behind bars? And yet a prosperous, stable and just South Africa cannot be built by violence that is the way to ruin, despair and death. Those who rule South Africa must change course before it is too late. There are signs that some of them realize that, but reforms so far have been too slow and too limited. The time bomb is in place and the clock is ticking; it must be defused before it is too late. We all share one common aim: the elimination of apartheid as quickly as possible. What can the world do to encourage South Africa in the right direction?”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“I say to those who are holding Britons hostage; we shall never submit to your blackmail. You will gain nothing. You will only bring your cause into disrepute. Set the hostages free. I urge all those with Influence over those holding hostages to say the same. And I urge this whole Assembly, on behalf of the hostages of every nation, to send the same plain and urgent message. Another problem cries out for a United response from the International community; southern Africa - never off the agenda of this Organization, and tightly so. For although South Africa may not be the only example of racial Intolerance in this world, it is unique in the Institutionalised domination of other races by the white population. Apartheid is morally repugnant, indefensible, inhuman. But it is indeed more than that; it is also suicidal for those who practise it.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Nor can the international community ignore Lebanon, where the United Nations Interim Force needs our full support. The Lebanese must be left to tackle their problems free from outside interference. All foreign forces should withdraw, and Lebanon's international borders must be respected. There are far too many innocent victims of all these conflicts. They include those who have been taken hostage, some of whom, alas, are citizens of my own country. We have some experience of defending ourselves against terrorism. Our position is clear and quite unshakeable. We will do no deals with terrorists. That is the only policy that makes sense. Every sordid deal by a Government, every ransom paid, makes another terrorist act worthwhile and increases the threat to all out citizens.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“In Israel itself, the Palestinian population is rapidly expanding. Already two generations of Arabs and Israelis have lived out their lives under the shadow of war and insecurity. Yet the basis for the settlement that must one day be reached is plain to see: Israel's right to a secure existence; and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Virtually the whole world now accepts the idea of an international conference under United Nations auspices. The United Kingdom is convinced of the need for it. An international conference will provide a framework for negotiations. It will not be a trick or a trap. It will not impose solutions, nor have the right to veto agreements reached between the parties. It need not be feared by any man of goodwill.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“For action is needed - action to show that the Security Council is neither worthless nor ineffective, that it will uphold its authority. We in Britain will not hesitate to take the steps at home which we judge necessary. I can announce today that we have decided to close down the operations of the Iranian military procurement offices in London. For us, the cynical attack on the "Gentle Breeze" was the last straw. The United Nations as a whole should learn the same lesson from what Iran has said and done this week. The Gulf conflict is the most imminent danger. But it is not the only threat to world peace. The Arab-Israel dispute has already dragged on for decades. But the present deadlock is no solution, no panacea. Far from it: It is highly unstable. In the occupied territories, misery and repression persist.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“After Iran's deeds and words this week, can anyone still believe that it intends to comply with the resolution? Monday's two unprovoked attacks, with missile and mine, show Iran's true intentions. So do the words of its President from this rostrum yesterday. He described the Security Council as "a paper factory for issuing worthless and ineffective orders". He invited the world to conclude that "the only option left is to use violence' (A/42/PV.6, p. 57). The United Kingdom therefore thinks it essential now to start work on the further measures foreseen in resolution 598 (1987). The first step should be an arms embargo, to prevent the flow of arms to those wishing to ignore the United Nations and to prolong the conflict.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“So it was particularly fitting that he personally should have undertaken the difficult and delicate mission recently entrusted to him by the Security Council· For this, as for all his service in the cause of peace, he deserves our warm thanks and admiration. As a result, we now know the views of the Iraqi and Iranian Governments on resolution 598 (1987). That resolution, legally binding, demanded that both Iran and Iraq should cease fire. It paid due attention to the legitimate concerns and grievances of both Iran and Iraq. And, rightly, it provided that in the absence of compliance the measures necessary for enforcement would be put in place, The Security Council's determination to ensure compliance must remain firm. What we now have to decide is whether the Security Council should move without further ado to an arms embargo.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)