§ Q8. Mr. Rowlandasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement about his recent visit to Lagos.
§ Q17. Mr. Tilneyasked the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in Lagos.
§ The Prime MinisterI would refer hon. Members to the communiqué issued at the end of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Meeting in Lagos. Copies are already in the Library, and it will be published as a White Paper later this week.
§ Mr. RowlandMay I congratulate the Prime Minister on ensuring that responsibility for dealing with Rhodesia still remains primarily with Britain, but is he 32 aware that in Rhodesia itself it is still not sufficiently realised that Britain is resisting yet further pressure from many States in Africa and from the United Nations?
§ The Prime MinisterThis has been right through one of the most difficult problems. That is why we attach so much importance to keeping the settlement, if we can, in our hands. There might be times—there could still be if we were not seen to be doing all in our power—when the matter would pass out of our hands, and this could lead to very serious consequences, not only in Rhodesia but more widely.
§ Mr. TilneyWhatever may have been the corrupt practices of some Nigerian Ministers, would not the right hon. Gentleman deplore what has happened to the Nigerian Prime Minister, who was well known for his selfless devotion to his country, and will he say whether what has happened in Nigeria vitiates any of the decisions made at Lagos?
§ The Prime MinisterI regret the hon. Gentleman's last few words, but I agree with what he said at the beginning. The whole House, especially those who in any capacity had dealings in the past with Sir Abubakar, will deeply regret the tragedy which occurred in Nigeria a few days ago. I should like to add—I am sure that I speak for all the Commonwealth Prime Ministers—a tribute to his splendid chairmanship of what could have been a very difficult Commonwealth Conference. He as much as anybody was, I believe, responsible for the satisfactory outcome of it. I regret the hon. Gentleman's going on with the last few words of his question.
§ Later—
§ Mr. TilneyOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I think that the Prime Minister must have misheard what I said at the end of my supplementary question earlier. I merely asked him whether events in Nigeria in the past week had vitiated the decisions of the Lagos Conference.
§ The Prime MinisterFurther to the point of order, Mr. Speaker. That is what I thought the hon. Gentleman said, and I rather regretted his putting it that way. Certainly it is true that the deeply deplorable nature of what happened in 33 Nigeria, not only in relation to Sir Abubakar but in relation to Nigeria generally, has in no way vitiated the success of the Conference.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. We cannot go back to a Question.