HC Deb 28 June 1962 vol 661 cc1340-1
11. Mr. Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Central African Office) what consultations he has had with the Government of Southern Rhodesia regarding the resolution adopted by the General Assembly United Nations. No vote has yet been new constitutional conference.

Mr. R. A. Butler

The debate on this resolution is still proceeding at the United Nations No vote has yet been taken on it.

Mr. Brockway

I anticipated that reply. May I ask the right hon. Gentleman if it is not now important that we should recognise that United Nations authority does extend to the struggles of peoples for democratic rights in any country? Will the Government begin to reconsider the view that these matters are not within the scope of the United Nations?

Mr. Butler

It is one matter for the United Nations to pass resolutions on the subject of territories for which Her Majesty's Government have full responsibility. That is one question. It is quite another question here, when Her Majesty's Government devolved responsibility in Southern Rhodesia as early as 1923.

Mr. Healey

Could the Home Secretary clear up a matter which has been puzzling many people both inside and outside the House? The British representative in these discussions in New York claimed that Her Majesty's Government needed time in order to influence the situation in Southern Rhodesia. How can this be squared with the repeated statements of the Home Secretary that Her Majesty's Government have no power whatever to do anything at all in Southern Rhodesia? Is it not the case that if the Government need time to do something, then they have, in fact, the power to do something, and if they have the power, they should use it now?

Mr. Butler

I think the hon. Member's interpretation of what Her Majesty's Government's representative said is not quite correct. What he was chiefly aiming at saying was that the issue was not quite so immediate, in view of the fact that the Southern Rhodesian elections are being postponed. In regard to any influence which Her Majesty's Government can exert, it is entirely a case of influence, because we have no power.