§ 42. Mr. C. Royleasked the Prime Minister, in view of his official statement on the subject of race discrimination during his visit to South Africa, whether he will restate the policy of Her Majesty's Government with regard to future action within the United Nations Organisation on this matter.
§ The Prime MinisterThe attitude of Her Majesty's Government on matters arising at the United Nations depends on the nature of the items to be inscribed on the agenda, the terms of the resolutions which may be introduced and the provisions of the Charter which govern United Nations proceedings.
§ Mr. RoyleMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he will recall a short passage in his speech to the South African Parliament, of which, for the sake of 1131 greater accuracy, I have obtained a copy? He said:
As a fellow member of the Commonwealth, it is our earnest desire to give South Africa support and encouragement, but there are some aspects of your policy which make it impossible"—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I am afraid that quotations from speeches are out of order in Questions. Perhaps the hon. Member can frame his question in some way as to avoid that difficulty.
§ Mr. RoyleI think I may be able to do so, Mr. Speaker. I will ask the Prime Minister if what he said to the South African Parliament can in any way relate with consistency to the United Kingdom vote in the United Nations Organisation in the past two years and also with the way in which this country voted or refrained from voting in the years before? Is it not a complete contradiction of what the Prime Minister said to the South African Parliament?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, I do not think so. I said clearly that there were certain questions on which we could not give them our support. What our right and proper course is when a particular resolution is introduced into the Assembly depends upon our view as to the rules governing the Assembly.
§ Mr. DonnellyIn warmly welcoming the Prime Minister back from his trip to Damascus, may I ask him about the garden party which was given in his honour by the United Kingdom High Commissioner in South Africa? Could he tell me how many coloured people were invited to that garden party and how many accepted?
§ The Prime MinisterI am afraid that I could not.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesCould the Prime Minister tell us if he has yet received a congratulatory telegram from Mr Khrushchev on his speech in South Africa?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir, but I had an interchange of birthday greetings with Mr. Khrushchev, which I think were published in the newspapers.
§ Mr. LiptonIs the Prime Minister aware—if I may abandon political warfare for a moment or two—that, taken by itself, the speech he made to the South African Parliament was a jolly good speech?
§ The Prime MinisterI am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. OramOn a point of order. Mr. Speaker, you ruled just now that my hon. Friend was out of order in quoting from a speech. Earlier the Prime Minister had refused to answer a supplementary question from the Leader of the Opposition because he had not quoted from the speech. Does not that put us in rather a difficult position?
§ Mr. SpeakerI should like to look at what happened to the Leader of the Opposition, but I have no doubt that my Ruling in the other instance was right. I am afraid that it is an old-established matter.