Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, replying to a question in the House of Commons on whether he would discuss at the May summit meeting the Middle East situation, said today that it had been agreed there would not be a formal agenda. He added that he could not therefore say in advance whether the subject would be discussed.
The question was asked by Laborite Arthur Henderson, who asked whether it was not essential to the stabilization of the Middle East that there should be understanding and cooperation between the Soviet Union and the three Western Powers. He asked also whether it could be assumed that the three Western Powers were going to the summit meeting with a common policy on the Middle East.
The Prime Minister said, in his reply, that discussion of the Middle East at the summit was “certainly a consideration to be borne in mind.” He also said “we have a very high degree of common agreement as to our Middle East policy.” Another Labor deputy, Dennis Healey, asked whether the Prime Minister intended to discuss maintenance of the balance of arms among the Middle East countries. The Prime Minister said this also was one of the “considerations to be borne in mind.”
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