asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will explain the reason for the United Kingdom veto of Security Council Draft Resolution $/11713, calling for an arms embargo against South Africa, in the light of that country's refusal to give up its illegal occupation of Namibia, in the context of Her Majesty's Government's policy not to supply arms to South Africa and its endorsement in November 1974 of the decisions of the International Court, the General Assembly and the Security Council that the occupation of Namibia was unlawful.
We worked hard for a constructive resolution. The draft eventually tabled sought a determination under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter paving the way for a whole range of mandatory sanctions. Objectively, the language of Chapter VII is clearly not applicable. Nor would mandatory sanctions help the Namibia cause.