§ 14. Miss Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the South African Government regarding the 940 trial and sentence of the Dean of Johannesburg; and if he will make a statement.
§ 27. Mr. Peter Archerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of the Republic of South Africa on the imprisonment of the Dean of Johannesburg.
§ 40. Mr. Leadbitterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the South African Government arising from the sentence of five years imprisonment passed on the Dean of Johannesburg: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GodberI have nothing to add to what my right hon. Friend told the House on 4th November in the debate.—[Vol. 825, c. 354–5.]
§ Miss LestorDoes not the right hon. Gentleman agree that what has happened to the Dean of Johannesburg because of his opposition to apartheid should be condemned by everybody in the civilised international community? Will he take this opportunity publicly to denounce the trial and sentence of the dean and also publicly to denounce apartheid?
§ Mr. GodberMy right hon. Friend made abundantly clear his attitude and that of Her Majesty's Government in the debate on 4th November, when he said:
Of course we detest the laws under which this kind of thing happens".—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 4th November, 1971; Vol. 825, c. 472.]He went on to refer to the possibility of an appeal by the dean and said that this was why he did not wish to say more.
§ Mr. ArcherDoes not the Minister of State agree that this is an example which is wholly consistent with the philosophy of the South African Government and that the force of any protest we may make will be diminished if we are consistently seen to be voting on the same side as South Africa in the United Nations?
§ Mr. GodberI cannot accept that at all. We judge each case in the United Nations and elsewhere on its merits. We have made quite clear many times our detestation of apartheid, and my right hon. Friend did so again in that debate.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonMight it not save a lot of trouble if South African Christians provided their own clergy instead of continuing, many years after South African independence, this ecclesiastical colonialism?
§ Mr. GodberI should not like to comment on that.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonIn answer to an earlier question on this subject, the Minister of State said that the Government had no information about the rôle of South African spies in the dean's trial. Surely there was plenty of evidence in the Press reports. Could not the right hon. Gentleman obtain a transcript of the trial so that he can see how intolerable it is that in Britain South Africans should be spying on British subjects to obtain evidence in relation to crimes against these wretched laws in South Africa?
§ Mr. GodberYes, I will certainly look into the matter the hon. Gentleman has raised. As I have said, we cannot take our evidence entirely from Press reports on this or any other matter.