TNAG-0115-FCO40-151-Departmental-briefs-for-Commonwealth-Prime-Minister-s-and-ot-1969 — Page 123

FIRST DRAFT

Draft for a speech on "World Security Problems" to be delivered by the Minister of State, The Rt. Hon. The Lord Shepherd, to members of the 1969 Spring Visit of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association at Westminster Hall on Thursday, 27th March, 1969

I much hope that you are enjoying your stay in this

country. It is always a pleasure for those of us whose

Parliamentary duties are carried on here to be able to

welcome to Britain fellow legislators from the other

Commonwealth countries.

We benefit greatly from the

opportunity to hear from you how problems which we all face

look when viewed from your home countries. Now that the

Commonwealth's 28 member states cover the whole world,

include all races and religions and embrace rich and poor,

aligned and non-aligned states, we have even more to learn

from one another than used to be the case, when a much

smaller Commonwealth was much more homogeneous. And being

now a true microcosm of the non-Communist world, comprising

a quarter of the whole world, any conclusions we may reach

should be of important significance to others as well as to

us.

2. We have here today, I understand visiting representa-

tives of 12 member countries of the Commonwealth, and from

three territories not yet handling their external affairs

and defence. Of the 15 countries represented 5 are in

Africa, 4 in North America and the Caribbean, 3 in Asia,

2 in Australasia and 1 in Europe. I can therefore

/understand