§ 5. Mr. Luceasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the latest developments in Rhodesia.
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Anthony Crosland)I would refer the hon. Member to my statement of 12th October. We shall no doubt be discussing this matter further in the debate later this afternoon.
§ Mr. LuceDoes the Secretary of State accept that all those who want to see a 1424 peaceful solution in Rhodesia must express a profound hope that the Geneva Conference will succeed? Do the Government intend to allow observers from other countries to attend the conference, and, if so, on what basis?
§ Mr. CroslandI am grateful for the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question. I had hoped for more such statements in the discussions that we had on 12th October. As regards the second part of his question, we do not intend to have observers at the conference. However, any Government or group of Governments who wish to send someone to Geneva to keep in touch will be welcome to do so. We have no intention of having official observers present in the conference chamber.
§ Mr. SpeakerWe shall be spending all day on this subject.