Prime Minister and President De Gaulle

Oral Answers to Questions — Board of Trade – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 17 Rhagfyr 1964.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Mr. Gresham Cooke:

asked the Prime Minister when he expects to visit Paris for discussions with the President of France.

Photo of Mr Harold Wilson Mr Harold Wilson , Huyton

Our two Governments are in consultation about a date.

Mr. Gresham Cooke:

Would the Prime Minister bear in mind that it is very urgent for him to see General de Gaulle to heal the breaches over the Concord project and the imports surcharge? Will he also remember the awful warning that the last Head of State called Wilson to go to Paris was President Wilson and that things did not come out too well after that?

Photo of Mr Harold Wilson Mr Harold Wilson , Huyton

Yes,Sir—very funny. I am well aware of the need to do everything we can to improve relations with France. But I thought that the worst moment of our relations with France was in the speeches of the then Prime Minister, and in the speech, which we all understood, of the then Lord Privy Seal, when they said what they thought about the end of the Common Market negotiations. I hope that we shall not get back to anything like that.

Mr. Jeger:

If my right hon. Friend is going to Paris, will he make sure that he is paired?

Photo of Sir Arthur Harvey Sir Arthur Harvey , Macclesfield

Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that the best way to improve relations with France, or with any other country, is by trade, and that the sooner the Concord project can be cleared up to the satisfaction of both sides the better it will be for Britain and for France?

Photo of Mr Harold Wilson Mr Harold Wilson , Huyton

Discussions are going on with the French Government about that. I find it a little difficult to reconcile the conflicting views of Opposition Members on this. In the case of the surcharge, they complain that we have done this without consultation. In the case of Concord, they complain that we asked for a review before coming to a decision.