HC Deb 22 November 1963 vol 684 cc1401-9

Order for Second Reading read.

2.38 p.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and for the Colonies (Mr. John Tilney)

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

The object of the Bill is well explained in the Long Title. I have never been lucky enough to go either to Zanzibar or to Pemba, though I have flown over these lovely-looking islands, one 640 square miles and the other 380 square miles, and I have wished that I could visit them.

It is interesting that it was only in 1890 that the Sultan accepted British protection and agreed to conduct foreign relations through the channels of Her Majesty's Government. Now Zanzibar is becoming the smallest recruit to the independent Commonwealth. Her population is about 300,000; three-quarters are African, one-sixth Arab, and the balance mainly Asian. But she has already achieved a multiracial State under her ancient Arab dynasty.

It was not until 1957 that provision was first made for elected representatives in the Legislature, and not until two years ago that unofficial majorities were introduced into the Legislative and Executive: Councils. Such has been the pace of recent advance. At the Constitutional Conference in London in March, 1962, there was a considerable measure of agreement on the constitution for internal self-government, but at that time the political parties were not at one as to the programme for it. While agreement was reached on the introduction of universal adult franchise, it was not until towards the end of the year that the delimitation of constituencies and the make-up of the Legislative Council were agreed, and it was not until April of this year that it was announced that internal self-government would be introduced this summer.

At the Zanzibar elections in July, when 99 per cent, of the registered electors went to the poll, the existing coalition Government were returned, and it was announced on 28th August that, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of the independence conference, it was expected that Zanzibar would regain her indepen- dence during the first part of December of this year. As the House knows, the conference agreed on the date as 10th December.

I think that the House might wish me to comment on the Clauses, but as I am not a lawyer I hope that I may be permitted to look somewhat carefully at my notes. The Bill does not confer independence. This is because Her Majesty's protection was extended to Zanzibar by the 1890 Agreement, and it is by the termination of this Agreement that it is being ended. The Bill is concerned only with the consequences of renewed independence on our law applying in relation to Zanzibar.

Clause 1(1) establishes the general position that existing law which operates in relation to Zanzibar should continue as at present. Subsection (2) read with Schedule 1 makes certain amendments to existing law which are necessary to accord with the new status of Zanzibar.

Clause 2 deals with nationality matters. It provides, for example, that any person who under Zanzibar law is a citizen of Zanzibar will also possess the status of a British subject or Commonwealth citizen. It also has effect so that persons who immediately before independence are British-protected persons by virtue of Zanzibar nationality will cease to have that status, and for the withdrawal of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies from those Zanzibar citizens who are also Zanzibar nationals under Zanzibar law.

All parties in Zanzibar wish no longer to retain access to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, except for appeals which are pending. Clause 3, therefore, enables jurisdiction to be conferred by Order in Council upon the Judicial Committee in respect of appeals lodged before independence day.

Clause 4 empowers Her Majesty in Council to adapt Acts of the British Parliament if this is found necessary, and Clause 5 enables the Orders in Council already referred to to be retrospective.

Hence the House may wish to note that, first, Zanzibar will be a constitutional monarchy under His Highness, soon to be His Majesty, the Sultan; secondly, that there will be a code of human rights which, with certain other provisions in the constitution, will be entrenched and unalterable except by a Bill passed by a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly in two successive sessions with a dissolution in between; thirdly, that His Majesty the Sultan will appoint as Prime Minister the member of the National Assembly most likely to command a majority in that Assembly; fourthly, that there will be a single elected, representative Chamber; and, fifthly, that the existing Executive Public Service, Judicial Service and Police Service Commissions will continue to operate.

I believe that the House will also be glad to hear that the Zanzibar Government have agreed on a detailed scheme open to all designated officers in the public service to retire voluntarily should they so wish on pension earned to date, and with compensation for loss of career.

At the independence conference held here in September of this year the Government and the Opposition co-operated harmoniously. Only in the case of a comparatively small number of areas of disagreement was my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State invited to arbitrate. At the conference the Prime Minister of Zanzibar, Sheik Mohamed Shamte, said how much Zanzibar looked forward not to the achievement, but to the restoration of independence, and he also said: The recorded history of Zanzibar goes back for many centuries: when England was engaged with the Wars of the Roses there were independent rulers in Zanzibar. When next year the envoy of Zanzibar takes his place at the United Nations he will be representing not some modern national creation but one of the oldest States in the world. The Prime Minister went on: One of the problems of our time is how different races can live together. In Zanzibar, we have a non-racial State. We do not judge any man by the colour of his skin, or the shape of his skull, or the names of his ancestors. He pointed out that of his ten Ministers in his Government three were partially of Arab descent, one of Asian origin, and the remaining six, including himself, were of African stock, and yet they all regarded themselves, first and last, as citizens of Zanzibar. I am glad to say that he was supported by the Opposition in saying: After 75 years we are about to regain our independence without any rancour in our hearts and with the utmost good will towards the British Crown and people. He also said: It is our intention that Zanzibar shall remain a member of the Commonwealth. We do not regard the Commonwealth as being the British Empire in a new guise. It is a worldwide association of free peoples of which Zanzibar will be an equal member. I like to remember also the views of the Leader of the Opposition Sheik Abeid Karume, who said: No one in Zanzibar can take precedence over the members of my delegation in having fought for the right to take our place as equals in the Commonwealth of Nations. Such membership has always meant at least this: independence under a system of government based upon the will and continuing consent of the governed. I am sure that both sides of the House would wish the Government and all parties and the people of Zanzibar the best of futures. We are well aware of the serious economic problems which face Zanzibar, so dependent in the past on her export of cloves to markets now partially closed to her. We hope that she will be able to diversify her economy, and I trust that arrangements can be agreed whereby the United Kingdom can help in the immediate financial problems which now face our new colleague in the Commonwealth. Finally, I believe that all of us hope that that comparatively great economy which was built up by ancient Zanzibar in centuries gone by, of trade and production in a really fairly small area of the Indian Ocean, is but a promise of what will be achieved in the years to come, and that we wish everyone in Zanzibar a prosperous and happy future.

2.48 p.m.

Mr. Christopher Mayhew (Woolwich, East)

The Under-Secretary of State has rightly said that the Bill does not actually confer, or rather restore, independence to Zanzibar, but it does give us our one opportunity of congratulating the people of Zanzibar on their restoration to independence after this long period of time, and also, I think, of congratulating the Government on their successful handling of the progress towards independence, which was by no means smooth at certain times and did require very careful handling.

The hon. Gentleman has the advantage of the House inasmuch as he flew over the island of Zanzibar; some of us have not been so fortunate even to get as near as that. Yet Zanzibar has projected a very clear image upon all our minds, whether or not we have visited it. We have a clear picture of the friendly and historic town of Zanzibar and of a warm climate. Rightly or wrongly, we have a sense of the pervading smell of cloves over the island. I am sure that if we went there we should see for ourselves that it is also a vigorous and forward-looking country with a great future.

The Minister said that it is the smallest member of the Commonwealth. Actually, it is easily the smallest member of the Commonwealth. It beats Cyprus for the honour by nearly 50 per cent, in its population. There was a time when some people would have wondered whether or not a country of this size should become a full member of the Commonwealth and whether or not it should, rather, have some intermediate status. But I think we must all accept that if a country, almost however small, wants to attain complete independence, and membership of the Commonwealth, it is not for us to stand in its way.

Countries of this type must, of course, wield very different amounts of power in the world, but it is not a bad thing that, instead of being a bridge of race and geography, the Commonwealth should also be a. bridge between the very large countries and the very small ones. The House should say to Zanzibar that, however small its population is, it is accepted as a completely full member of the Commonwealth, entitled to all that that implies, that Zanzibar will be treated by all the members as equals, and that we hope and believe that Zanzibar will make a contribution to Commonwealth councils in excess of the number of its population.

No one can say that the British bulldozed their way into Zanzibar. That was never the case. We were, as I recall from my reading of history, extremely reluctant to accept responsibilities in Zanzibar and, indeed, were invited in somewhat against our wishes in 1890 as a means of forestalling another colonial Power with ambitions in that region. We are now leaving Zanzibar. I was greatly impressed, as was the House, by the quotations which the Minister read from the very statesmanlike and noble expressions of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on the relations between our countries at this moment of Zanzibar's achieving independence. In 1961, all good friends of Zanzibar were acutely disappointed by the difficulties in the transition towards self-government, but since then we have noticed many good signs of hope. The Constitution which the Minister has described entrenches minority rights about as strongly as one could wish for. The two-thirds provision with an election in between should surely satisfy and reassure the minority in its very important interests. I was glad—we all were—to find that the Afro-Shirazi Party agrees that these rights are strongly entrenched.

On this side of the House we note with some fellow feeling that this party, the Opposition party, in spite of winning a majority of the votes, has been unable to form a Government. That is a state of affairs which we on this side of the House have ourselves known. Nevertheless, we note, and are encouraged by, the statesmanlike attitude of this party towards the Constitution and towards the protection of minority rights.

The future of Zanzibar will be very keenly watched throughout Africa. Apart from the Union of Africa, it has the largest non-African minority of any country south of the Sahara, and the future relationship between the Africans and the Arabs in Zanzibar will be watched with the greatest interest and sympathy throughout the world.

If we look at South Africa, there will be some who would not be unhappy to see this experiment fail. We read in The Times statements from the South African Government that multi-racialism is bound to fail. For that very reason the relationship between the Arabs and the Africans in Zanzibar will be watched with the greatest sympathy by all those who utterly detest the doctrine of apartheid preached in the Union.

I hope that the United Kingdom Government will not think that with the passage of the Bill their duties towards Zanzibar come to an end. 1 was rather reassured by the concluding passages of the Minister's speech. Anything that we can do to help the economic development of Zanzibar and the diversification of its economy must, of course, be done. Is it true, as I read a few weeks ago, that the price of cloves is now only one-fifth of what it was in 1958? Is it true that Zanzibar has three years' world supplies of cloves in stock? If so, this goes to show that there is a tremendous responsibility on the developed countries of the world to cooperate in maintaining fair prices and a proper, orderly stockpile of some of the principal raw materials.

It is a devastating illustration of what we all talk about—that the aid given by the developed countries to the less developed countries disappears when the terms of trade turn against the developing countries in the way they do, for example, in the instance of cloves. However, we do not want to be too pessimistic because, as the Minister said, there are a number of bright things to look at in the outlook. All I wish to say, in conclusion, is that British people of all political views will join in offering heartfelt good wishes and success to the people of Zanzibar.

2.57 p.m.

Mr. Jeremy Thorpe (Devon, North)

Perhaps I shall be understood if I say that as a member of the smallest party in this House I have a particularly poignant reason for welcoming the smallest member of the Commonwealth. I do so not only for that reason. I know Zanzibar; I have visited it, and I have had some slight dealings with it. I say unhesitatingly that it is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited in my life.

In its time Zanzibar has certainly produced some very great rulers. I met the present Sultan's father, who died in rather tragic circumstances recently, and I should have liked to have met his grandfather, who was a giant. The way in which the coastal strip matter has been settled seems to show that the present Sultan is cast in very much the same mould. I also would pay tribute to the Prime Minister, Muhammed Shamte Hamadi, and also Sir George Mooring, the Resident, who is widely respected for his advice and counsel and as a friend of Zanzibar.

The hon. Member for Woolwich, East (Mr. Mayhew) mentioned the depen- dence of Zanzibar's economy on cloves. It is very disturbing that, at the moment, this is a one-crop economy. I led an all-party deputation to see Mr. Nehru at the time of the last Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference. The two main customers for cloves are Indonesia and India.

We pointed out to Mr. Nehru that, perhaps understandably, for balance of payments reasons, India had found it necessary to impose what was a 97^ per cent, tariff on the import of cloves and to apply a very rigid quota system. We expressed the hope that, when the deputation from Zanzibar visited New Delhi, India would be able to be a little more liberal in her trading policy towards Zanzibar and we added that India in this connection could really regard herself as a developed member of the Commonwealth as compared with Zanzibar.

The Clove Growers' Association is doing all it can to find new markets. It also intends to do research to see if cloves can be put to other uses. At the moment, however, the economy is almost totally dependent on this one crop and that is a fact we must recognise. I hope that India and any other countries that Zanzibar looks upon as customers will adopt as flexible a policy as possible in this respect.

Zanzibar has experimented with and been successful in multi-racialism. That is a wonderful thing. One walks through Zanzibar and sees all the races living in complete harmony. I suggest, therefore, that they have a very great part to play in the Commonwealth. They have solved the problem which many other countries of the Commonwealth have yet to solve and are an example to many of the more recent members of the Commonwealth on how multi-racialism can work. I therefore add my own wholehearted welcome to Zanzibar as an independent member of the Commonwealth and wish it a great future.

3.1 p.m.

Mr. Tilney

By leave of the House, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. Member for Woolwich, East (Mr. Mayhew) and the hon. Member for Devon, North (Mr. Thorpe) for what they have said. I do not know whether, like me, they enjoy cloves in their apple tart, but there is a great problem over Zanzibar's one-crop economy and, of course, India and Indonesia, because of balance of payments problems, have found it very difficult to import cloves as they did.

In my opening remarks, I did not refer to Zanzibar's action in renouncing her sovereignty over the coastal strip in Kenya because that had been referred to in the debate on the Kenya Independence Bill, but I think that the House would like to pay tribute to the statesmanship of the Sultan and the Zanzibar Government in agreeing to the handing over of the coastal strip to Kenya.

The Bill is yet another example of our policy of bringing independence to our dependent territories and, with the ending of the 1890 Agreement and the enactment locally of the independence Constitution we shall see the end of our formal connection with yet another territory for whose affairs we have been responsible for over seventy years. But both sides of the House welcome Zanzibar as a new member of the Commonwealth and we hope that we shall trade and act in friendship together for another seventy years, if not longer.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Bill committed to a Committee of the whole House.—[Mr. McLaren.]

Committee upon Monday next.