YouSaid · the spoken record

Stewart

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS STEWART

lines on the record: 87
first: 1965-09-24
most recent: 1969-09-24
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

“I know very well that this is not true of us alone: that many other nations, in many times and places, have defended this principle. But my country, often at great risk, has done its best to hold the door open for freedom of thought and the entry of new ideas. Unless that door remains open, the United Nations can not fulfil its purposes.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The people of Gibraltar have the right to say what they think, to agree or disagree with each other as they see fit, and to choose for themselves whether they will live under British sovereignty or under that of another. This is right; this is in accordance with the Charter. It is this which it is Britain’s duty to defend. 90. But the main issue of human rights goes far beyond this particular problem. I have referred to some of the problems which threaten mankind. To each of them we must try to apply the resources of diplomacy and the techniques of the United Nations. But on the great scale, mankind will not solve its problems unless the human spirit is left free. I have described how deeply we in Britain are committed to that principle.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Therefore it is important to keep the doors open to new ideas, the windows open to the fresh air of new thought. Only by such tolerance and freedom can mankind hope to advance. Further, we do not claim that there are no defects in our country, that there are no matters about which people may not justifiably complain. What we do claim is that every dissatisfaction, every grievance, can be the subject of free discussion and, finally, of democratic decision. 89. Give me your indulgence if, in this connexion, I mention one particular British problem, that of Gibraltar: small on the map, small in its population, but of great importance for the principles involved.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Fortunately for Copernicus he lived at a time and in a place where new thought, challenging accepted philosophy, could be published and discussed. Even poor Galileo, despite his sufferings, lived in a world where his ideas could be proclaimed and not suppressed. Fortunately for Einstein he was able to escape from the tyranny of the Nazis to the freedom, first of Britain and later of America. For us in Britain, as for so many countries in the Commonwealth, freedom and democracy are not a mere mechanical process of votes and elections; they are an assertion of human rights. In Britain we do not claim to have a philosophy which provides, with blind, dogmatic certainty, all the answers to all the problems. On the contrary, we assert that no one knows yet what the right answers are to all the problems.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I have spoken of the need to make our procedure businesslike, to exercise foresight, to respect Security Council resolutions, to apply ourselves generously and imaginatively to the problem of poverty. The thing that remains and that gives life and spirit to all this is respect for human rights. The Charter requires. this; we all believe or profess to believe in human rights. First, these rights are important to the individual; a man is not completely a man if he cannot think as he pleases, speak his mind, organize peacefully for the ideas in which he believes. But these human rights are not only something which the individual ought to have; they are essential for the progress of the human race. Mr. Gromyko referred to the tremendous and beneficial impact on mankind of the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo and Einstein.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Taxpayers in the richer countries of the world sometimes complain about contributions of this kind, and of course they are entitled to claim that those contributions should be efficiently used. But we must all be prepared to say to those who doubt the wisdom or the necessity of aid: “Do you want to live in a peaceful, civilized world?” Everyone who is asked this question answers yes. What we all have to understand is that if we want to live in a peaceful, civilized world, we must be prepared to pay a fair rent for it; and the fair rent for living in a peaceful, civilized world is a sustained. informed and practical concern for the welfare of mankind and, in particular, for those who have so far lived in the degradation of poverty. 88. One thing remains to be said.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“But there is no good in talking about reports and policies unless we are prepared—particularly those of us in the richer countries of the world—to do something practical. The United Kingdom Prime Minister gave a pledge very recently that our Government would not reduce its development aid programme. As our resources permit, we shall try to raise the already substantial level of our voluntary contributions to the development assistance which is provided through United Nations channels. Last year I said here that we were increasing our contribution to the United Nations Development Programme in 1969. We shall make a further increase of half a million pounds in our pledge for 1970, bringing our total contribution to nearly £6 million. We also propose to increase our contribution to the United Nations Children’s Fund.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“For example, it is for the developing countries to mobilize the domestic savings which must finance the greater part of their development. It is for them to ensure the efficient and equitable collection of taxes. It is for them to pursue proper policies in the field of population. 86. These are the things which nations must do for themselves. But the international part of the job remains vital. All of us must ensure that the methods of the international Organization are efficient and economical. We await with interest the reports of Mr. Lester Pearson on development aid and of Sir Robert Jackson on the capacity of the United Nations development system. I hope we can all agree that those reports should be thoroughly and urgently discussed and necessary changes introduced without delay. 87.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The First Development Decade, which lasts until the end of 1970, has the target of a 5 per cent growth rate of gross national product for the developing countries. By 1968, two years before the end of the Decade, that growth was, on the average, 4.7 per cent. We cannot say therefore that the Decade has been a failure. Yet, although we must not despair, neither must we be complacent. That average growth rate which I mentioned conceals, as all averages do, wide ranges. In some countries the growth has been so devoured by population increase that the average man in those countries will feel that no progress has been made. Next, let us realize that the struggle against world poverty must be a joint effort by the richer and more fortunate countries and by the developing countries.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“If any person or any nation imagines that any cause in which they believe can be forwarded by acts of this kind, then let them take note that lawless violence is a wolf that can come to every door. There are many grievances in the world; there are many causes in which men and nations believe; but if everyone who has a grievance to proclaim or a cause to promote assumes that he can do so by piracy and murder, then no nation and no individual are safe. We must, therefore, have international action to deal with this menace. 84. But if part of our work is to try to end conflict and to restrain violence, another and more hopeful part of our work is to develop the possibilities of peace. I want therefore to say something about the problem of world poverty. 85. First, let us not despair. This is a terrible problem, but we have made progress.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“But, as President Nixon further pointed out, it is not only on the battlefield that violence and cruelty occur. We have now throughout the world piracy in the air, bomb outrages, arson, kidnapping and other acts of reckless cruelty. The world is in danger of reaching that condition which Shakespeare described: Blood and destruction shall be so in use And dreadful objects so familiar That mothers shall but smile when they behold Their infants quartered with the hands of war, All pity choked with custom of fell deeds. 82. Is not that how so many of us feel when we read the news from so many parts of the world morning after morning; is not that the condition to which we all fear we may be coming? 83.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“I have mentioned two problems with which the United Nations is vitally concerned. There are other problems to which unhappily the skill and experience of the United Nations have not been applied. Viet-Nam is one of these. On this let me say at once how much I welcomed President Nixon’s statement to the Assembly [1755th meeting]. He made it clear that as part of a final and fair settlement the United States would withdraw all its troops and that meanwhile the United States was making an immediate withdrawal of some of them. It would be a blow to peace and to atl the purposes for which the United Nations stands if such constructive gestures by the United States were ignored or misunderstood. We must, therefore, ask for equal statesmanship from those on the other side. 81.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Now surely respect for the resolution means this; that when anyone, any nation, is attempting to frame such a package he must say to himself, “I will not reject any particular proposal merely because I think it would be distasteful to any party to the dispute to whom. I may be favourably disposed. I will rather ask myself about any proposal these questions: ‘Is it fair, is it workable, will it be durable, is it in conformity with the Security Council resolution?’ ” This is the spirit in which anyone who attempts to play any part in solving the problem must urgently approach his task. And the parties concerned must realize that this is so; they must not expect any nation whether in four-Power or two-Power talks, or any other forum, to act merely as an advocate. They must act more constructively than that. 80.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Third, the content of a settlement: here again, we must remember the importance of respecting Security Council resolutions. The content of the settlement must put into effect all the provisions of the important resolution [242(1967)] passed in November 1967—withdrawal, just and lasting peace, and indeed everything in that resolution. The problem has been to fashion from that resolution a workable package, or programme or list of parallel actions to be performed by the parties—use whatever term you please— which would ensure that all the provisions of the resolution would be carried out.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Now the view of my Government is that we should not be dogmatic as to the method of settlement. Consultations of four Powers or of two Powers, the work, in co-operation with them of Mr. Jarring, may all be helpful— and if at any stage with the help of Mr. Jarring the parties to the dispute could get into discussion, so much the better. In our view nobody ought to say, “We rule out any particular method”, and nobody ought to say, “We insist on one method and one method alone”. If at any time one method proves impossible, we must all be prepared to try others. 78. Next, as to the form of the settlement: this must place inescapable obligations on all the parties to live at peace. with each other and to respect each other’s frontiers, and to these obligations all parties must be manifestly and irrevocably committed. 79.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“There have been many acts of violence in which hundreds of lives have been lost and thousands of lives have been disrupted and distorted. All this violence makes future settlement even more difficult to obtain. Yet a comprehensive political settlement is essential. 77. Let me say something about the method, the form and the content of a settlement. As to method, we had hoped that the patient work of Mr. Jarring would succeed. Certainly through no fault of his, it has not brought success. So when early in this year it was proposed that the representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, France and the United Kingdom should meet, we gladly accepted that proposal. Since then, there have been discussions between the United States and the Soviet Union.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“To pass resolutions demanding the use of force, or demanding a total economic confrontation with other States in southern Africa, is to commit the error against which you, Madam President, warned us in the passage of your speech which I quoted earlier. It would be particularly foolish to commit this error when we have near to our hands a practical and effective way of proceeding, which is to see that the important resolution 253 (1968) is rigorously observed both in letter and in spirit. 76. I turn now to another and even more urgent problem, that of the Middle East. Since we all discussed it a year ago, there has been much diplomatic activity and unhappily little progress. And meanwhile there has been continuing violence. The cease-fire has in fact broken down.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This is why I have spoken of the importance of observing Security Council resolutions. There stands on our records resolution 253 (1968) of 29 May 1968. From that resolution sprang a Committee charged with the supervision of sanctions. All Member States should do everything in their power to co-operate with that Committee. The Government of the United Kingdom, mindful of its special responsibility, has given maximum assistance. We have so far submitted over fifty reports of cases of suspected sanctions’ breaking. The action taken by the Committee on these reports has been encouraging and in an increasing number of cases has frustrated Rhodesian exports. It is on these lines we must proceed.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We in the United Kingdom have made very clear the legal and diplomatic nature of this isolation. The Governor, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, having served most valiantly, has now rightly resigned his Office. We have recalled our mission from Salisbury. Rhodesia House in London stands empty. These were right and necessary measures. What more needs to be done? I know there is a body of opinion in this Assembly which believes that the United Kingdom should use force to bring down this régime. But to light the torch of war in southern Africa would lead to every kind of terrible consequence without any guarantee whatever that the outcome would be swifter or politically more desirable than could be achieved by the present course of action, that is to say, the steady and resolute application of sanctions.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“All tyrannies are odious, but at the present point in history those based on racial doctrines are the most odious and the most dangerous. Mankind is distinguished from the brutes by his capacity for compassion, for justice and for reason. To tyrannize over anyone is to depart from compassion. To deny anyone his political rights is to depart from justice. But to do these things on the basis of bogus theories of racial supremacy is to depart from reason as well. 75. But although this régime remains at present in power, it lives in isolation from the world, earning the detestation of the world and cut off by the operation of sanctions from the bright economic future which should be the birthright of its peoples but which is denied to them by the operation of racial doctrines.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We must not therefore say that we cannot proceed on one of these problems until the other is solved. We have to make progress concurrently on them both. 73. I have said that, first, we must make our procedure more businesslike and second, we must exercise foresight. The third requirement is that we must resolve to show in our actions respect for resolutions adopted by the Security Council. I say this having in mind two problems which are not problems for the future but which hang round us today, unsolved and threatening. These are Rhodesia and the Middle East. 74. In Rhodesia, the illegal régime remains in power, having rejected the repeated offers made by Britain of terms designed to secure an honourable settlement. It remains in power, a tyranny, unashamedly based on racial doctrines.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We have recently seen how much good can be achieved when agreement is reached between these two, the most powerful countries in the world; I am referring to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2372 (XXII)], in the drafting of which the United Kingdom can also claim to have played a creditable part. The United Kingdom has signed and ratified this Treaty. We hove that signatures and ratifications of one nation after another will proceed rapidly. 72. Mr. Gromyko also pointed out the mutual relationship between disarmament and security. Every agreement on disarmament reduces the suspicions that torment the world and makes further progress to peace easier. Any arrangements which can be made to increase security make every nation more willing to consider disarmament.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The Secretary-General, in the introduction to his annual report on the work of the Organization [A/7601/Add.1], made it clear that the most urgent problem facing the world, and particularly facing the Governments of the United States of America and the Soviet Union, is to find some way of halting the nuclear arms race. I was glad to hear Mr. Gromyko say that his Government attached great importance to restraining a strategic arms race; I hope that very shortly we shall hear that a date has been fixed for opening discussions on this subject between the Governments of the United States and the USSR.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It should encourage full use of the potential of that area of the globe. United Kingdom representatives both in this Assembly and on the sea-bed Committee, will do all they can to speed agreements to this end. 70. As to chemical and biological warfare, the United Kingdom has submitted during the present session of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament a practical draft convention prohibiting biological methods of warfare We see this as a first move towards dealing with biological and chemical weapons, and we shall study with close interest the proposals put forward by my colleague Mr. Gromyko in the statement he made to this Assembly [1756th meeting]. 71. Let me pursue this subject of disarmament in the spirit of U Thant’s call for a Disarmament Decade.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“There are also new aspects of old problems for example, the present state of the discussion over disarmament in the realm of chemical and biological warfare. 69. As to the sea-bed, the complexity of this issue, apparent in the light of the work already done, increases the need for Member States to formulate their policies. This is particularly true for the questions of the limits of national jurisdiction and the nature of the régime to govern activities beyond those limits. For our part, we believe that the best way to provide a firm legal basis for exploitation of the sea-bed would be to set up a régime by international agreement. This should offer advantages to all, giving effective protection to the interests both of the signatories and of those engaged in exploiting the natural resources of the sea-bed.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Of these problems I shall deal with some in my speech; time forbids that I should try to deal with them all, but if I select some as examples, I trust it will not be supposed that I underrate the importance, both in politics and morality, of those which I cannot mention today. 68. We are surrounded by a jungle of problems. What must we do to cut a path for mankind through that jungle? First, we must make our procedure more businesslike. How can we do our work with an agenda as congested as that which now lies before us? Next, in deciding what we should discuss we must exercise foresight; that is to say, we must be ready to concentrate on new problems, such as outer space, the human environment, and the peaceful uses of the sea-bed.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“May I quote one passage. You said: “...many of us tend to go happily from one agenda item to the next without seriously considering the possibility or even probability that the resolution adopted will not be implemented.” [1753rd meeting, para. 54] 67. With this my Government warmly concurs. We ought not to use words unless we believe they will produce actions, and unless we believe that the result of those actions will be practical and in accordance with our clear capacity. It is all the more important to remember this in view of the vast number of problems which surround the United Nations—so many of them still unsolved and, in consequence, causing those who observe the work of the United Nations to fear that the Organization may become impotent.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“64. Madam President, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on your election. Your experience and personal charm will ensure that we shall get on with our work in an atmosphere of confidence and good humour. Relations between my country and yours have always been of the happiest, and the United Kingdom was the first country in the world to recognize the new State of Liberia in 1848. 65. I must also express my sorrow at the untimely death of the last President of the General Assembly, Mr. Emilio Arenales. None of us will forget the skill and the courage with which he conducted the proceedings of the Assembly at its twenty-third session while he was already in the grip of a fatal disease. 66. To my regret, Madam President, I was not able to be here to listen to your opening speech, but I have read it since with close interest.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is at that crisis of human affairs that we now stand.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“My conclusion, therefore, is that if we are to escape from the frustration that now surrounds us and carry out the purposes for which we are supposed to be here, we must have ;regard to the universality of membership, to respect for the Charter, to efficiency of administration, to a sensible concern with what is practical, and concentration of our efforts on that; to the exercise of foresight and to the exercise of fair judgement. And we had better hurry up: every year the scientists produce some new device or idea which is either pregnant with promise of greater prosperity for mankind, or pregnant with the threat of more appalling disaster. Every year, therefore, the prize for success in our work in the United Nations is enlarged; and every year, the penalty for failure — failure to keep the peace — becomes more terrible.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But, of course, a further cause of frustration is the slow progress in bridging the gap between the developed and developing nations of the world; and we have not yet been able to get the results through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development that we had hoped to get. But the second session of UNCTAD did mark some useful achievements, and brought into focus the practical possibilities in the years ahead. 116. There is an increasing awareness everywhere that development is the concern of all countries—developing and developed alike — a complex joint enterprise calling for the closest co-operation of all in the patient search for agreement on what the Secretary-General of UNCTAD has called “convergent action". 117.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“For many millions the personal problems of poverty and hunger are of much greater urgency than the political problems which I have described. You have reminded us, Mr. President, that economic and social work is 85 per cent of our efforts. This is as it should be. Britain is trying to do, within its financial limitations, all it can to contribute to this work. We have increased our contribution to UNICEF; we have contributed to the Secretary-General’s Trust Fund for Population; and I am glad to say that within its existing aid ceiling the United Kingdom Government will increase its contribution to the United Nations Development Programme in 1969 by rather more than $1 million. 115.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“113. Further in the field of trying to make life worth living, there is relief and humanitarian work. And here we think particularly of the tragic events in Nigeria. We have the Secretary-General’s report on the work our Organization and other international organizations are doing there. My country has contributed and will contribute to that work. We have had from Mr. Arikpo the assurance of the Nigerian Government’s desire to co-operate with internationally-organized relief work. The international community, therefore must, in co-operation with Nigeria, continue this work until the need for it is at an end. 114. Among other things needed to make life worth living is to get on with the economic side of our work.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We have enacted recently, for the first time in our history, an Act dealing with relations between people of different races in the United Kingdom. In order to establish further our regard for the whole principle of international law we shall, at the beginning of next year, withdraw most of our reservations to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. 112. I sometimes think some of our discussions on human rights are spoilt by the vice of partiality, a tendency sometimes for one country to attack another for breach of human rights, without having asked itself first sufficiently what the state of affairs is in its own country. Another condition, therefore, for the success of our work is that fairness of judgement that causes a man or a nation to apply the same standards of conduct to himself as he requires of other people.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Article 56 of the Charter makes it clear that no country can say that the human rights of its citizens are an exclusively domestic matter. A country that denies its citizens the basic human rights is by virtue of Article 56 in breach of an international obligation. 110. Human rights are many and widespread. If we set to work, I do not doubt that we could all of us point out to each other ways in which our neighbours fell short of a full realization of human rights. But it probably would be more profitable if instead of reproaching each other we asked, ourselves each one of us, the question: Is my own country doing enough to establish human rights? 111. Weil, in the United Kingdom we are trying to do so.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I have the good fortune to live in one of the richer countries of the world, a country free from internal strife, a country which, if the peace of the world is kept, can look forward to a rising standard of life year after year. It is quite easy therefore for me to say that I believe in peace, order and stability. But what about large sections of the human race to which at present peace means the continuation of poverty, the continuation of oppression, the continuation of injustice? The virtues of peace and stability will not be quite so obvious to them. If we want men to love peace, we shall want to make sure that peace means something more to them than the continuation of poverty, oppression and discrimination. 109. We try to tackle that. We try to tackle it in the field of human rights.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“If we do not get on with our consultations on it now, we might find that a situation had arisen when the problem had assumed great importance and when because of that, country after country in the world had already taken up fixed positions as to how it should be handled and had got vested interests in solving it one way rather than another. Once that happened, it would be very difficult to get a solution. It is important, therefore, that these problems should be seized as quickly as possible, and I am glad to see that we are doing that. I think that shows that another condition for the success of the United Nations is that it should exercise foresight. 108. I said that our job was not only to prevent conflict but to make life worth living. I think it is important for me to stress that.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is not only incredible in itself but it discredits all previous utterances.” 107. I have spoken so far of present and past problems. But we are beginning to notice that we ought to try and seize certain problems by the forelock when they begin to appear on the world horizon. That is why it is good that we are already beginning to consider the problem of the uses of the sea-bed. There is similarly the initiative of Sweden that we ought to consider the effects of modern industrial civilization on human environment. For all any of us know, in ten years’ time, the question of the use of the sea-bed might have grown to be one of the major questions affecting either human prosperity or human security.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“I am thinking, for example, of resolutions which call on us to do things that we know quite well are beyond the capacity of this Organization — such was the resolution on South West Africa — or resolutions which are in conflict with things clearly laid down in the Charter. I refer there to the resolution on Gibraltar which conflicted, in my judgement and in that of many, with the requirement in the Charter that when you are dealing with colonial or former colonial questions. the interests of the inhabitants should be paramount. We want to avoid, I think, resolutions of that kind. Not only do they not tell the world anything useful, but they damage the credibility of the United Nations. As a British Judge once said about a wildly unlikely statement by a witness: “This is like the thirteenth stroke of a clock that is out of order.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“And why have we an agreed policy? Not because everybody, when we first began to discuss this problem, had exactly the same view as to the best way of dealing with it, but because we were all prepared to work out the highest common factor of agreement and concentrate on getting ahead with that. I draw from that yet a further conclusion as to one of the requirements for success in the United Nations. That is to say, we must have a practical appreciation of what can be done and what cannot. We do not always remember that. We sometimes pass resolutions which quite frankly not only are of no effect in themselves, but can be dangerous to the United Nations because of their obvious impracticability — and they devalue the currency of United Nations action. 106.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“But I am sure it was right that this attempt should have been made at the highest level in order to discover whether a settlement could be achieved. We should not have wanted this dispute to continue merely because the British Government had not made every reasonable effort to get a settlement, but throughout the talks Mr.Wilson made it plain that a settlement would have to be a settlement on the basis of the six principles which were, and are, the basis of our policy. In the absence of such a settlement, it is important that all of us here should continue resolutely with our policy, with the ‘mandatory sanctions on which we are agreed. When a settlement which the world can accept is reached, it will be that policy which has played a great part in reaching it. In the absence of a settlement, we must continue that policy. 105.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“From this I draw another conclusion as to the conditions for the success of our work: that we must seek to be a universal Organization, not excluding particular States or Governments, provided they are genuine States, on the ground that we do not happen to like their régimes. 104. I move from that problem to one which goes to the heart of the United Nations Charter and which, I believe, very many of us here have been following with acute interest in the last week. I refer to Rhodesia, and I want to say this. The talks which took place in Gibraltar between the Prime Minister and the leaders of the illegal régime have ended — I regret to say that they have ended — because of fundamental disagreements on major issues. A wide gulf between the two positions remains.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Some months ago, the United States took action which removed something like 80 per cent of the territory of North Viet-Nam from the dread of attack and war. I should have thought it reasonable that the Government in Hanoi should be prepared to take at least some measure to reduce the scale of the war. And — whatever may be thought of the rest of the dispute — if anyone says in these circumstances that he thinks the Government of Hanoi is entitled to continue the war with unabated ferocity, I cannot see how he can claim that he really wants peace in the matter. 103. But why is our attention turned to Paris and not here, in the matter of Viet-Nam? Why has the United Nations not been able to handle it? One reason, certainly, is that the People’s Republic of China is not represented in this Organization.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is the duty of all Members of the United Nations to use whatever influence they possess, not as partisans of one side or the other, but as partisans of peace and in support of Dr. Jarring’s mission. In anything that the British Government has been able to contribute, this has been its consistent purpose. 101. I have spoken of Cyprus and of the Middle East. I turn now to the problem of Viet-Nam. Here we have to say that, not only has the United Nations made no progress in solving this problem, but, also, that all important discussion about it has been outside the framework of the United Nations. Eyes are turned now, if they look for hope, not here but to the talks in Paris. 102. I would say one word about the talks in Paris.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The task, in which Her Majesty’s Government will be ready to assist, will inevitably take long to complete. But I believe that if an early agreement could be reached about how this problem should be tackled, this could transform the atmosphere. We cannot see the end of the problem all at once. If we had the conviction that there was going to be a real beginning in solving it, that would transform the atmosphere and we should be in sight of that real, just and lasting peace that ail in the Middle East so urgently need. But there must be no more delay. I see no effective alternative to Dr. Jarring’s work. It is for the countries directly concerned to move from words to action, to lay proposals before Dr. Jarring and to seek, with him, to bridge the differences between their proposals and to widen the area of the agreement.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is recognized that all aspects of the resolution must be accepted and that there should be agreement on all of them and on the programme under which all of them will be put into effect. But in the work which will be necessary, I believe much emphasis must be laid on the problem of the refugees. I am glad to note that the Israel Government intends to introduce new measures to hasten the return to their homes of those who fled during the fighting last year. I very much hope those new measures will lead to the speedy return, before the rigours of the winter, of all those who wish to go back. 100. But the greater task is to help the large body of refugees who have suffered so tragically for the last twenty years; to give them again the opportunity to live in the dignity which should be the right of every human being.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“At this critical point, however, the means for a solution are available. The Security Council resolution deals with everything that must accompany a lasting settlement, and Dr. Jarring is still here to assist in working out how the resolution is to be put into effect. 98. There are so many complicated matters to be settled that it would be unrealistic to regard that resolution as self-implementing. But it would be equally unrealistic to be dogmatic about the way agreement should be hammered out, and unreasonable and dogmatic to preclude any one method of hammering out agreement. 99. The parties concerned have accepted the resolution. We understand that they are ready to continue to discuss with Dr. Jarring the means of carrying it out.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We have not got so far. Last year the United Nations was unable to keep the peace. Nor so far have we succeeded in creating the conditions of peace, and when many of us came to New York for this Assembly we were greatly concerned by the outlook. Without greater readiness of the parties to enter into substantial discussions on the basis of the unanimously approved resolution, there seemed no hope of avoiding a further drift to disaster. Dr. Jarring’s skill and persistence have earned the admiration of all, but no one would expect him to continue his efforts if there were not a new readiness on all sides to enable him to go forward. Dr. Jarring is in the position of a man asked to solve a jigsaw puzzle - a hard enough thing to do at any time; but if people do not give you the pieces of the puzzle to start on, it becomes harder still. 97.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Going beyond that — as I put it earlier, beyond the work of the policeman to the work of the conciliator — I think we have noticed with gratification the way in which the parties concerned have engaged in serious discussion of the dispute. By so doing, they have shown respect for the principles of the Charter and for the work of the United Nations, and I wish them success in those discussions. There are two conclusions to be drawn: if we want the United Nations to be successful, it has to be efficient administratively, and its Members have to mean what they say and they have to show respect for those parts of the Charter that require all nations to seek peaceful methods of solving disputes. 96. I turn next to the Middle East, where we cannot congratulate ourselves, at least not as much as we might be entitled to in the example of Cyprus.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“To take a first example, I believe one could say, on the question of Cyprus, that, although it still remains unsolved, the United Nations is entitled to feel that it has made real progress and that it is not foolish or over-optimistic to hope for real settlement. We have got that far partly because there was an efficient United Nations force to help in the immediate task of keeping the peace. One of the lessons we must draw — a very homely one — is that, if we want to do our job properly, we have to have efficient administration. I would say this particularly applies in those circumstances, limited in number but important, where it is desirable that a United Nations force be organized.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)