§ 10. Mr. Grimondasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what steps he proposes to take to alter the present laws under which Her Majesty's Government have no power to procure the admission of British citizens to British protected territories.
§ Mr. AlportThe protectorates for which my noble Friend is responsible are Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland. His existing constitutional powers in those territories are considered adequate.
In Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the position is that entry from outside the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland into those protectorates, whether of United Kingdom citizens or other persons, is a matter for the Federation, under Item 4 of Part I of the Second Schedule to the Federation of Rhodesia 1366 and Nyasaland (Constitution) Order in Council, 1953. The procedure for altering this Schedule is laid down in Article 98 of the Constitution.
Any proposal to vary the existing division of powers between the Federal and Territorial Governments is a matter which can be considered at the 1960 Conference but it would not be proper for me to particularise at this stage as to what might be included in the Agenda of the Conference.
§ Mr. GrimondWhile not asking the Minister to particularise, may we take it that he is dissatisfied with a position in which British subjects, such as Mr. Colvin, are excluded from Nyasaland and not even the most friendly representations may be made, far less pressure be brought on the Government concerned? Can he explain why it is that in the case of Ireland, the Prime Minister thought it proper to make representations about the treatment of Irish nationals by the Irish Government, but apparently we find it difficult to make representations about the treatment of British nationals by the Government of the Federation?
§ Mr. AlportThe hon. Gentleman will realise that on all matters relating to the interests of this country and a Commonwealth country we are always closely in contact with the Government concerned. The case of Mr. Colvin, to which the hon. Gentleman referred, is a different matter.
§ Mr. HaleWould not the Under-Secretary of State make a specific reply to the question whether he is really pleased with this situation, whether he is expressing approbation of it, or whether he disapproves of action by the Rhodesian Government directed against British citizens with a long record of respectable and responsible residence within the territory?
§ Mr. AlportIt is not my responsibility, nor would it be proper for me, to comment on an action of a Commonwealth Government taken within powers which they possess and which have been conferred upon them by the United Kingdom Parliament.