§ SIR GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSON (Bradford, Central)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if his attention has been drawn to the recent incident at Nairobi, where Lord Delamere and a Mr. Baillie seem to have compelled the Governor against his wish to receive them and others as a deputation on the local labour question, and to promise to receive a second deputation on the following day, but that before the second interview could take place the Governor suspended Lord Delamere and Mr. Baillie, and has petitioned His Majesty the King to remove them permanently from the Governor's Council; can he say whether he has any official information on the subject; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe facts are substantially as stated by the hon. Member. The Secretary of State has expressed his approval of the Governor's action in suspending Lord Delamere and Mr. Baillie from the exercise of their functions as members of the Legislative Council. He proposes to await the receipt of the Governor's despatch on the 86 matter before deciding whether any further action is necessary.
§ MR. ASHLEYI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can make any statement with reference to the labour question in British East Africa and the recent meeting at Nairobi; and what white force is available in the Protectorate to maintain the authority of the Governor.
§ MR. CHURCHILLDifferences between the Governor and a section of the white settlers on the subject of the regulations for native labourers have led to a disorderly demonstration; but pending the arrival of the Governor's despatch the Secretary of State is not aware of the exact points at issue. There is a force of some twenty white policemen in Nairobi and the neighbourhood.
§ MR. ASHLEYIs it true the Governor took the chair at one of these meetings?
§ MR. CHURCHILLI understand he met a deputation and discussed the question at issue with it. They came in a body to the Governor's house.
§ MR. ASHLEYThe suggestion is that the Governor took the chair at a public meeting to discuss this very question.
§ SIR GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Lord Delamere and Mr. Baillie have been removed from the Legislative Council of British East Africa; and, if so, on what grounds this action was taken; and whether Papers will be laid.
§ MR. CHURCHILLThe persons whom the hon. Member names have been suspended from the exercise of their functions as members of the Legislative Council because the Governor reports that they took part in an organised demonstration of an insulting and disorderly character against His Majesty's Representative in the Protectorate. The Secretary of State is awaiting a despatch. Papers will be laid in due course.