HC Deb 20 July 1955 vol 544 cc363-4
45. Mr. Fenner Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement regarding proposals of the Government to end the fighting in Kenya following the withdrawal of the surrender terms on 10th July.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Following the withdrawal of the surrender offer, military operations have been intensified against the remaining terrorists in the forests with a view to the earliest possible termination of the emergency. It is still open to those who may wish to surrender to take advantage of the "Green Branch" terms of August, 1953.

Mr. Brockway

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the only possibility for the 1,000 Mau Mau adherents who are now holding out is either to be killed in the hostilities or to be executed after surrender? Will he not, therefore, try to seek some other way by which an end to the fighting can be secured without this appalling alternative?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

As the hon. Gentleman feels that he has considerable influence with people in Africa and elsewhere, I wish that he would be more accurate in his statements. He ought to study the "Green Branch" terms before he makes that sort of observation. They provide very considerable opportunities, other than for those who have committed murder, and they should certainly be pondered on. Many opportunites have been offered to the terrorists in Kenya with my full support, and offered generously by the Government of Kenya.

Mr. J. Griffiths

Will the right hon. Gentleman publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the terms to which he has referred in his reply, and secondly, will he say what efforts will be made to make these terms known to the people in the forest? Will he also say whether there are only 1,000 left in the forest?

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, it is always difficult to estimate the number of terrorists in a forest, either in Kenya or in Malaya, but I will certainly circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT again—for I think it has been done before—the "Green Branch" terms. I am certain that no opportunity has been lost by the Government of Kenya for bringing the details of these terms home to everybody.