HC Deb 19 July 1973 vol 860 cc712-5
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Sir Alec Douglas-Home)

With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I wish to make a statement.

I promised the House that I should make a further progress report on efforts to settle the Rhodesian problem before the recess.

I have now been able to study Sit Denis Greenhill's report on his visit to Rhodesia. In the light of it I am sure that the policy we have been following remains right. Our purpose, as the House knows, has been, while maintaining the status quo, to bring the various parties in Rhodesia together so that they could work out for themselves a settlement which could resolve the difficulties within their country, bring the dispute with Britain to an end and be a basis for independence for Rhodesia.

Hon. Members will have seen that Mr. Smith and Bishop Muzorewa have met. Mr. Smith is also meeting the leaders of other African groups. This meeting between the bishop and Mr. Smith is certainly a step forward and we must hope that it will eventually lead to that agreement between the races which everybody in this House would like to see.

Mr. Goronwy Roberts

Will the right hon. Gentleman assure us that there will be no change in Government policy towards Rhodesia during the recess and that the House will be recalled if such a change is proposed? Secondly, will he assure us that sanctions will continue to be actively enforced by this country? Thirdly, was the right hon. Gentleman able to press Dr. Caetano about Portuguese co-operation in enforcing United Nations policy on sanctions, and, if so, what reply did he receive?

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

As I said in My statement, the status quo will be maintained. If there were any significant change which involved this House, my right hon. Friend would reconsider recalling the House.

On sanctions, this country is fulfilling its complete obligations under the United Nations instructions. I spoke to Dr. Caetano about Portuguese actions on sanctions and I asked him whether Portugal could change her policy. I am afraid that the result will be exactly the same as Portugal's present policy.

Mr. Soref

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that at the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the Organisation of African Unity recently held in Addis Ababa, it was decided to intensify terrorist activity against Rhodesia? Is it not a fact that the bishop himself has pub- licly supported the Organisation of African Unity on various occasions? In the light of that and of the fact that Bishop Muzorewa has never denounced or criticised terrorism or the killing of white and black Rhodesians in Rhodesia, is it not unthinkable that he could be a satisfactory partner in producing peace in Rhodesia?

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

I think that everyone in the House will agree that this problem will not be solved peacefully by terrorism. It will be solved by negotiation between the races inside Rhodesia. There Bishop Muzorewa represents an important part of African opinion and Mr. Smith represents the Europeans. Their meeting is a start in the process of negotiation.

Mr. John Mendelson

During the next few months, when he is trying to encourage discussions between the two sides, will the Foreign Secretary use his influence on the regime to allow more normal political life to the African people—ordinary discussion meetings on a larger scale perhaps—with the help of some of the interned political leaders? If they could be released, discussions might begin which could lead to the get-together which the right hon. Gentleman has in mind.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

Yes, Sir. I hope that this meeting with the bishop will mean that Mr. Smith will meet other responsible Africans in Rhodesia and that the circle of discussion will widen. That is the best hope for a negotiated settlement. I am sure that the initiative this time must come from Rhodesia, and I believe that has been accepted by Mr. Smith and the bishop.

Mr. Evelyn King

Is it not a fact, as my right hon. Friend said, that we have conscientiously carried out our part of the sanctions obligations over a period of eight long years to our great loss? Is it not also a fact that the major trading nations of the world, including the United States of America and more others than I care to mention in Asia and other parts of the world, have not carried out their part? Must there not come a point—whatever view we may hold about Rhodesia—at which we are entitled to say to the United Nations that, whether or not this is a burden which ought universally to be borne, it cannot be a burden that we alone have to bear?

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

We have done all we can to ask the United Nations to insist that other countries bear their fair share of the sanctions burden. So far we have borne an unfair share. I hope that other countries will now tighten up the sanctions and the loopholes. Now is not the time—when talks are beginning in Rhodesia—to say anything which might upset those talks. I would rather not say anything more.

Mr. Maclennan

How does the Prime Minister intend to represent to the Commonwealth Prime Ministers in two weeks' time that the Government have been doing all they can to persuade the principal sanctions breakers within the EEC that they have been seeking to stop the loopholes, in the light of his reply that this is a matter for the United Nations?

Secondly, will the right hon. Gentleman represent to Mr. Smith that, if he wishes to achieve a settlement that is acceptable to all the peoples of Rhodesia, he must enter into discussions not only with Bishop Muzorewa but also with the leaders of African opinion who are either in gaol or detention?

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

It must be for the Rhodesians to decide who takes part in the conversations. [HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"] When I talk about the Rhodesians, I mean the African and the European Rhodesians. I am not talking about one race. It must be for them to decide among themselves how they settle this affair and they must then come to us with a proposal.

When we detect a breach of sanctions we take the matter to the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations, and it is for that committee to pronounce on it.