§ Mr. J. Amery(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement about the withdrawal of the Sudanese delegate from the South Arabian Constitutional Commission and the cancellation of the Commission's departure for Aden.
§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Anthony Greenwood)On Monday, 19th July, I was informed by Sayyid Mohammed Abu Rannat that he had been asked by the Sudanese Government to withdraw from the South Arabian Constitutional Commission and that he considered he had no alternative but to comply.
I am in urgent consultation with the High Commissioner about the steps which should now be taken. Meanwhile, the Commission has postponed its departure for South Arabia for the time being.
§ Mr. AmeryIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that we on this side of the House have consistently advised him not to persist in this ill-conceived initiative and that if he had followed our advice he and the Government would have been saved another humiliating rebuff? Can he now say what representations have been received by the High Commission or himself from the Federal Government and the Aden Government since the withdrawal of the Sudanese member from the Commission?
§ Mr. GreenwoodThe right hon. Gentleman calls this an ill-conceived initiative, but it was a genuine attempt to ease tension and end bloodshed and I am sorry that I did not receive the co-operation 1574 of either the Aden Government or the right hon. Gentleman in that perfectly legitimate endeavour. I have received suggestions from Federal Ministers which have reached me through the High Commissioner. I am in touch with the High Commissioner about them, but I prefer not to add anything at this stage.
§ Mr. GreenwoodI have not heard from the Aden Government at this stage.
§ Mr. SandysDoes not the right hon. Gentleman remember that when I was in Aden I advised all concerned to receive this Commission and to co-operate with the Government, although it was well known that I disagreed with that policy? I have been as helpful as I could. Will the right hon. Gentleman now give up this futile attempt to shelter behind an international Commission which has no authority, and which only serves to blur responsibility, and now resume what is his own task, which is to undertake whatever consultations are necessary and to take decisions on the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government?
§ Mr. GreenwoodWhen I used the expression "right hon. Gentleman", it was in the singular and not the plural. I exempt the right hon. Member for Streatham (Mr. Sandys) from the strictures which I just passed on his right hon. Friend the Member for Preston, North (Mr. J. Amery). I appreciate what the right hon. Member for Streatham (Mr. Sandys) did when he was in Aden. It is too early at this stage to talk about abandoning the Commission. I am in consultation with the High Commissioner and I do not think that it would be useful to debate the matter further at this stage.