§ Q4. Mr. Hooleyasked the Prime Minister if he will make an early official visit to Portugal.
§ The Prime MinisterI have at present no plans to do so, Sir.
§ Mr. HooleyIf my right hon. Friend has occasion to have conversations with Senhor Caetano, will he take the opportunity to make clear to him that he should suspend all hostilities by Portuguese arms in Mozambique and Angola and particularly in attacks on a friendly Commonwealth country?
§ The Prime MinisterI dealt a week or two ago with the question of Zambian anxieties and referred to important discussions with the President of Zambia. As far as our attitude to various aspects of Portuguese West African policies are concerned, it requires no personal visit for Her Majesty's Government to be able to make clear our views to the Portuguese Government. They were set out yet again in the last communiqué of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.
§ Mr. HeathThe right hon. Gentleman said that he had no plans to visit Portugal. Can he tell us whether he has formed any plans to visit Nigeria?
§ The Prime MinisterIt seems that Nigeria is a different country from Portugal and that this is a different question. Nigeria is to be debated this afternoon and this evening, and the right hon. Gentleman's curiosity could best be satisfied during that debate. If I had had a Question on Nigeria I should have answered it.
§ Mr. HeathIs the Prime Minister really saying that he wants to keep an announcement of a forthcoming visit to Nigeria for a dramatic intervention in the last few minutes of today's debate? Would it not be fairer to say to the House now whether or not he is going?
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. The right hon. Gentleman will note that both at Christmas-time and in the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference these matters were discussed with the Nigerian Government. I should vastly have preferred them to be discussed outside the context of this debate. The House will wish this afternoon to be concerned with the very real and difficult issues of Nigeria, which are issues of policy which we are prepared to discuss in the House.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonCan we get back to the Question? What should be the attitude of this country towards Portugal, which at present is trying to jeopardise our campaign to bring Rhodesia back into legality and is offending Commonwealth countries which are joining with us in that task? Is it not time that we did our best in N.A.T.O. and through E.F.T.A. to put pressure on Portugal in this respect?
§ The Prime MinisterWhile this is certainly related to the Question on the Order Paper, my hon. Friend will be aware that I have been asked this question a number of times before. We regard the enforcement of the Security Council Resolution as a matter for the United Nations and have lost no opportunity of letting the Portuguese Government know Her Majesty's Government's view on this matter.