§ 2. Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth 413 Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will propose in the Security Council the temporary suspension of South Africa's membership of the United Nations until such time as South Africa withdraws its administration from Namibia, which has been declared illegal by the International Court.
§ Mr. HooleyIs my hon. Friend aware that I would not myself support the outright expulsion of South Africa from the United Nations in the present situation but that I believe that Her Majesty's Government should take a very firm initiative to indicate that the position by which South Africa is in flagrant defiance of the United Nations, of the International Court, of the Security Council and of the General Assembly on this issue calls for action that would start to bridge the gap between the Western Powers and the African countries?
§ Miss LestorI am glad that my hon. Friend shares our views about South Africa's expulsion from the United Nations. We take the view that the United Nations must be a universal organisation. The views on South Africa in that respect just expressed by my hon. Friend were made clear by our spokesman at the United Nations. We share my hon. Friend's views on that point.
§ Sir Frederic BennettIf the Minister should at any time change her mind and decide that there is a case for suspending South Africa's membership, as the Question suggested, would she consider whether that course should apply to other Powers as well, such as the Soviet Union, in the case of Hungary and Czechoslovakia?
§ Miss LestorI think that the hon. Gentleman is perfectly right. If one accepts the principle of expulsion or suspension, of course individual member nations can apply it and argue for it according to their own ideas and attitudes. That is why we take the view that expulsion is a very dangerous precedent.