HC Deb 27 November 1969 vol 792 cc593-4
11. Mr. Judd

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she will make a statement on the future policy of her Department towards development assistance in Tanzania.

Mrs. Hart

I regret I have nothing to add to previous statements on this matter.

Mr. Judd

Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that, while there is genuine concern for the pensioners, there is great distress in the House that pensions for former colonial officers should ever have been regarded as aid and that a disagreement on this issue should have led to a break in economic relations with Tanzania? Will she assure the House that we will as soon as possible resume aid to Tanzania is one of the countries which is most deserving in terms of its emphasis on self-help?

Mrs. Hart

I am glad to hear and I welcome what my hon. Friend says. It will clearly be controversial when I now say that it is my personal hope that we can renew British aid to Tanzania as soon as we can resolve this pension question. I have a further Question on the Order Paper dealing with this. Studies are going on at the moment.

Mr. Farr

Is the Minister aware that we have in Zanzibar no diplomatic British representation? In these circumstances how is it possible to have any effective aid system in that country?

Mrs. Hart

As the hon. Gentleman will know, the difficulty is that we have our representation in a State, and in the case of Tanzania and Zanzibar our representation appropriately is in Tanzania. The situation is complex and it makes it difficult for us to convey effectively, although we have been making tremendous efforts, any concern we may have about purely Zanzibar matters as distinct from Tanzanian matters.

Sir Knox Cunningham

On a point of Order. The Minister said that this was her personal view. Is it possible for a Minister at the Dispatch Box to give a personal view and not a Ministerial view?

Mr. Speaker

That is not a point of order for me.