Brunei

HC Deb 12 May 1971 vol 817 cc380-2

59. Mr. Bryant Godman Irvine

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the recent negotiations with the Sultan of Brunei.

The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Anthony Royle)

Talks were held from 19th April to 5th May between His Highness The Sultan and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and myself. An agreement to amend the 1959 Agreement was initialled by The Sultan and by my right hon. Friend. The amending Agreement is to be signed and published later in the year. Arrangements for the continued stationing of a battalion of the British Brigade of Gurkhas in Brunei were also agreed.

Mr. Godman Irvine

Will my hon. Friend ensure that the Sultan of Brunei and the people of that country are aware of the friendship and appreciation expressed not only by this House but by the people of this country for this continued example of understanding and friendship between our two peoples?

Mr. Royle

I very much welcome my hon. Friend's comments. The outcome of the talks is satisfactory for both sides and underlines the close and continuing friendship between Britain and Brunei over the last 100 years.

Mr. Hattersley

My supplementary question is, I fear, in four parts, though the parts are all related. First, does the hon. Gentleman recall that previous agreements have been open-ended? Is this one open ended or is there a termination point?

Second, does he also recall that when my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Bottomley) announced a similar agreement to the House six years ago, there was talk about there being an obligation on the Sultan to make progress towards genuinely democratic rule? This does not appear in the new agreement.

Third, since Her Majesty's Government are committed by this agreement to the stationing of one battalion of Gurkhas in Brunei, may we have an assurance that a new Gurkha agreement has now been written and agreed with the Government of Nepal, rather than the matter having been announced before the Government of Nepal have given their agreement?

Fourth, to avoid the pursuit of these detailed points, will a copy of the agreement be placed in the Library of the House, as happened on previous occasions?

Mr. Royle

As I indicated in my original reply, the details of the amending agreement will remain confidential until their publication later in the year. I hope to go to Brunei in October to sign the agreement. When it is signed we will put a copy in the Library so that the hon. Gentleman can have answers to all his questions. [Interruption.] I was about to go on to give further answers.

I was asked whether it was an open-ended agreement. This agreement is an amendment to the 1959 agreement. It is, therefore, basically still the 1959 agreement, as amended.

The answer to his question about the Gurkhas is that there has been an exchange of letters between my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the Sultan about the Gurkha battalion, and the Gurkha battalion will continue to be entirely under British control and command.

Mr. Hattersley

I am sorry to have to pursue the hon. Gentleman over this, but one of my questions he did not answer at all and another he answered totally inadequately.

I have no doubt that the Sultan of Brunei is happy to have a Gurkha battalion stationed in Brunei. Is the King of Nepal also happy about it?

The hon. Gentleman did not answer my question about progress towards a genuinely democratic structure in Brunei, which my hon. Friends regard as essential in terms of writing a new agreement, but about which the hon. Gentleman said nothing.

Mr. Royle

The Nepalese Government are aware of, and accept, our plans. The answer to his second question is that any movement regarding internal affairs in Brunei must remain a matter for the Sultan.

Mr. Dalyell

Can we get this clear? Has the clause about social progress in Brunei, which was an important part of the agreement signed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Bottomley), been completely obliterated? Is that the fact of the situation?

Mr. Royle

I do not think I have given any indication that anything has been obliterated. [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."] I have only said—and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept this—that an amending agreement to the 1959 agreement has been initialled. The final agreement will be signed later this year, and that will be published and placed in the Library.