Invitation to Mintoff

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32661, 17 July 1971, Page 17

Invitation to Mintoff

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, July 16.

Britain has invited the Malta Prime Minister (Mr Mintoff) to London for talks about revised defence and finance arrangements for the Mediterranean island, but has made it clear that there can be no pre-conditions.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary (Sir Alec Douglas-Home) said that the Prime Minister (Mr Heath) had invited Mr Mintoff to London to discuss the 10-year agreements reached in 1964.

The statement was made after the sudden cancellation of a planned visit to Malta by the Secretary of Defence (Lord Carrington), because of a message from Mr Mintoff.

Soon after Mr Mintoff’s Labour Pary won power, by a single-seat majority, in the General Election last month, he declared invalid the 1964 agreements, providing £sm a year in exchange for defence facilities on Malta.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home told the House: “We have made it clear to Mr Mintoff that we have no desire to maintain forces on Malta against the will of the Malta Government. “We have also made it

clear that we are ready to enter into negotiations at Ministerial level, in good faith and without preconditions, with a view to reaching an agreement satisfactory to both sides.

“We hope that the Malta Government will now agree

that talks should begin on this basis.”

The Foreign Secretary said that in a reply to Mr Mintoff’s message, Mr Heath had said that Lord Carrington remained ready to visit Malta; but since Mr Mintoff had said that he would have found this visit embarrassing, Mr Heath had renewed an earlier invitation that Mr Mintoff himself, or a representative, should come to London.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home added: “A further message was received from Mr Mintoff by telephone just before I came to the House, and it holds out a hope that it may be possible to resolve the difficulty between us, but I can say no more until Mr Heath has had a chance to study the text. “We will certainly lean over backwards to try for reasonable discussions, but we do not really need forces in Malta for our own defence purposes, or to defend Malta, though we are part of the N.A.T.O. arrangement that is valuable in the Western Mediterranean."

The Opposition Labour spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Denis Healey, a former Minister of Defence, praised “the British Government’s calm in a rather turbulent situation."

In the House of Lords, Lord Carrington said: “Even taking into account our affection for the Maltese people, there is a price which is too high to pay for these facilities.”

Unconfirmed reports have said that Mr Mintoff is thinking in terms of £l3m a year and that if he is refused he may make an approach to the Soviet Union.

The Royal Navy announced yesterday that in view of the present circumstances, a proposed routine call at Malta today by the guidedmissile destroyer London had been postponed. But, the Royal Navy added, this did not mean a general ban on ships visiting the Mediterranean island; these would continue to be considered on a case by case basis.