Peter Thomas, the British Minister of State, reiterated today the British Government’s opposition to Arab boycott pressures against British firms but declined to say what action had been taken in specific cases.
The Minister was replying to a question from Arthur Henderson, Labor Member of Parliament, as to what representations had been made to the Governments of Jordan and Syria following their official blacklisting of 49 British firms presumed to have business connection with Israel.
Mr. Thomas replied that British envoys in Amman and Damascus had been authorized to express “our disapproval of restrictions on the freedom to trade of British firms.” He added, however, that he did not think “it would be helpful to enter into details of the action taken in specific cases.”
(Charles Clore, leading British Jewish industrialist, said in New York last night that the Arab League boycott of 40 of his companies was “a joke.” Mr. Clore, who arrived by plane from London in connection with some of his holdings in New York City, said his firms “do a very slight business with the Arabs and when we do, they don’t pay us anyway, so what’s the worry?”)
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