HC Deb 02 July 1968 vol 767 cc1282-3
9. Mr. Wall

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs if he will now make a statement about the proposed Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

Mr. George Thomson

No, Sir. I can as yet add nothing to the Answer which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave on 20th June to a Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Molloy).

Mr. Wall

When does the Secretary of State expect to be able to make an announcement on this subject? Is it the Government's desire to hold a Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference this year?

Mr. Thomson

It is our desire to see a Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference held as soon as there can be agreement about the time and the place. I have expressed some impatience about this. With 27 Heads of Government, all with busy schedules, it is difficult to get agreement on a time when as many of them as possible will be free. The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, who is responsible for this, is pursuing his consultations with the greatest possible vigour.

11. Mr. Fisher

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs whether he will seek to arrange that the Kenya-Asian problem, so far as it involves holders of British passports, will be discussed at the next Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

Mr. Whitlock

I refer the hon. Member to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 19th March to supplementary questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwood (Mr. John Fraser) and the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. John Hall).—[Vol. 761, c. 241–2.]

Mr. Fisher

I do not carry in my head what those answers were. Does not the Under-Secretary agree that this is not just a domestic matter, but a Commonwealth issue affecting many countries—India, Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, as well as Britain. Therefore, the Commonwealth Conference might well be the best possible forum for resolving this considerable problem.

Mr. Whitlock

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said that the agenda of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference will have to be agreed by all the Prime Ministers concerned. He went on to say that he would be surprised if the immigration problem did not come up for discussion at the Conference.

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