FOUR-POWER TALKS

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27094, 18 July 1953, Page 7

FOUR-POWER TALKS

Labour Criticism Of

Lord Salisbury

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 17. The political correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that Mr Attlee and other Opposition speakers during next week’s Foreign Affairs debate in the House of Commons are likely to criticise Lord Salisbury who represented Britain at the recent Big Three Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Washington.

They believe he yielded too easily to American objections to the proposal for talks between the leaders of the Four Powers.

The Opposition is disappoi came from Sir Winston Chur< proposal for a Foreign Minis! The possibility of a confer) level was not ruled out by Foreign Ministers, said the Act Butler), answering questions in in the absence of Sir Winston

inted that the proposal, which chill, has now become only * ters’ meeting.

ence being held on the highest the proposed meeting of the ting-Prime Minister (Mr R. A. i the House of Commons today i Churchill.

Labour members had argued that Sir Winston Churchill’s original suggestion for talks between heads of States was better than talks between Foreign Ministers. Mr Butler said that the proposal had been made jointly by the Western Powers in Washington, and it was better to wait and see how matters went before deciding when and where the Four-Power talks should be held. Switzerland as Venue? A message from Berne says that the Swiss Federal Council announced today that it would agree to a meeting of the Big Four Foreign Ministers in Switzerland if a request were made by the four Governments concerned. French official quarters forecast a quick Russian reply to the invitation to a Big Four Foreign Ministers’ conference, but thought the Russians would probably make certain reservations before agreeing to a meeting. Dr. Adenauer, the West German Chancellor, told his party, the Christian Democrats, that the Western Note represented a “great success” for his Government.