§ 20. Mr. Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the present political situation in Nyasaland reflected in the expulsion of two African members of the Federal Parliament from the African National Congress.
§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd)No African member of the Nyasaland Legislative Council has been expelled from the Nyasaland African Congress. I assume the hon. Member is referring to the expulsion from Congress of the two Nyasaland African members of the Federal Assembly. This dissension within Congress ranks reflects no change in the political situation in Nyasaland.
§ Mr. BrockwayMay I first express my appreciation of the fact that the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State is here? I do not mean that sarcastically; I appreciate his presence. Will the right hon. Gentleman look at my Question on the Order Paper? The Question on the Order Paper refers to two African Members of the Federal Parliament. He seems to be replying to a Question on the Order Paper before this. In view of that correction, I hope that I may be allowed to ask a supplementary.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThere is nothing in that correction to answer. The hon. Member asks me how the present political situation in Nyasaland is reflected in the expulsion of these African Members. I pointed out that the two Members had been expelled from Congress, the two Members being sitting Members in the Federal Parliament, and that it reflected no change in the territorial political situation in Nyasaland. The purpose of my answer was not to cast doubts on the hon. Member's accuracy but to pin-point what he had in mind.
§ Mr. J. JohnsonIs it not a fact that the political situation is changing, largely due to the action of the right hon. Gentleman, in which he is conniving at the actions of Federal leaders? Is it not a fact that since the visit of Sir Roy Welensky to London and the apparent acceptance by the Colonial Secretary of his views, Africans in the Federation are becoming desperate about the situation? Is not the situation changing, as a result of which these two men have been expelled from their party because they went to Salisbury and accepted Federation until 1960?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe hon. Member cannot get away with that. The only thing which this Question reflects is dissension within the ranks of the Nyasaland 1496 Congress, and I think the hon. Member will agree that I have enough to answer for without dealing with the internal affairs of the Nyasaland Congress or taking any responsibility for them.
§ Mr. CallaghanWould it be fair to put it to the Colonial Secretary that the dissension in the African National Congress in Nyasaland is purely one of the tactics to be used in opposing Federation and does not reflect any agreement on the part of anybody in the African National Congress that Federation should continue?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI hope that there are members of Congress who will follow the advice of Lord Attlee when he said, in this House, that if Federation became law the Labour Party of Great Britain would do their best to make it work.
§ Mr. CallaghanCan we ask the Colonial Secretary for once in a while to answer the question put to him, instead of putting a gloss on the answer which he himself is giving? May I ask him again, is the dissension in the African National Congress, as far as he knows, one of tactics in opposing Federation? If that is so, does it not justify some of the comments which my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mr. J. Johnson)made?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI must repeat that I cannot possibly put an interpretation on the action of people who belong to a body for which I have no constitutional responsibility.
Mr. Creech JonesIn view of the intense feeling in Nyasaland of the Africans against Federation, can the right hon. Gentleman now give urgent attention to a much more liberal constitution in Nyasaland itself?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs the right hon. Gentleman knows, when I was in Nyasaland fairly recently I discussed with the Governor and with other leading people in the Colony what might be done in that field. I await the recommendations, which will come in due course. I share the right hon. Gentleman's desire that the constituent parts of the Federation shall move in a constitutional and sensible manner towards greater responsibility within the framework of the Federation as a whole.
§ Mr. Speaker rose—
§ Mr. BrockwayOn a point of order. May I draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that when I rose earlier I was only correcting the right hon. Gentleman, who had answered a Question which is not now on the Order Paper, and that I refrained from putting a supplementary question? In these circumstances, may I put a supplementary question now?
§ Mr. SpeakerI listened to the hon. Member and I thought he was asking a supplementary question.
§ Mr. BrockwayNo, Sir.
§ Mr. SpeakerI would not credit to him the offence of asking about another Question on the Order Paper. I took it for granted that what he asked was relevant to the Question which he had put down. I am sorry if I was mistaken about that.
§ Mr. BrockwayIt was not I who was asking a Question which was irrelevant; it was the Minister, as I am sure he will acknowledge, who was answering a Question which was irrelevant and which was not on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. SpeakerI cannot go into that.