THE OFFICIAL BRITISH POLICY ON THE UN REFORM

by Douglas Hogg

The Federalist Debate VII N.2, 1994

"I am replying as Minister responsible for policy toward the United Nations.

"I read with interest the report of the Standing Committee on External Affairs and International Trade of the Canadian House of Commons.

"We believe that it is important that there should be a close relationship between parliamentarians from around the world and the UN. There are plans for the UN and the International Parliamentary Union jointly to convene a special meeting in New York next September on the occasion of the UN's 50th anniversary.

"It is important to bear in mind, however, that the UN is not, and never was intended to be, some kind of world government. Its purposes, as laid down in the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations between nations, to achieve international cooperation and to be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations to these common ends. The UN is the sum of its member states and the democratic control over its activities should be organised by the peoples of the world through their national governments." Douglas Hogg, MP., Minister of State, The Foreign Office, London.

(From: Bruce Ritchie , wfa.unreform, 30/6/94)