§ Mr. Christopher PriceI beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 9, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
the situation in Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides.This is a serious application. It concerns a subject that I have now been raising in the House for well over a year. The situation in Vanuatu is now more serious than it has ever been. It is important, because the House was misled on 24 July by the Minister of State when he said:British and French troops, acting together, carried out an operation to restore the authority of legitimate Government on the island of Santo, thus putting an end to the eight-week rebellion. The operation appears so far to have been a complete success."—[Official Report, 24 July 1980; Vol. 989, c. 801.]We know that the operation was almost a complete failure and that the Royal Marines have taken no action of any sort to preserve the integrity of the newly independent country of Vanuatu. It is especially urgent in view of the news this week that there has been a landing of a large quantity of automatic weapons on the island, almost certainly by American interests, in league with the French residents on Vanuatu and with Jimmy Stevens, that are intent on disrupting the territorial integrity of Vanuatu. The matter is particularly urgent because the British soldiers who are stationed on the island failed completely to prevent this disruption of this newly independent Commonwealth country.It is important that we have a debate on this matter, because there is a real danger that the military conflict that is about to grow on the island of Santo will be one between British and French soldiers. The French are there to protect their citizens, many of whom are actively backing the rebel regime, and the Royal Marines are there to protect the integrity of the new Commonwealth country of Vanuatu. There is a real danger that the conflict will worsen.
558 It is for those reasons that I beg leave to have a debate on the issue, so that the Minister may tell us what the present situation is and give us an assurance that the British troops will remain there as long as the French troops to carry out our obligations to this newly independent Commonwealth country that desperately needs our help.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member for Lewisham, West (Mr. Price) seeks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely,
the situation in Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides.I listened with concern to what the hon. Gentleman said. However, I have to rule that his application does not fall within the provisions of the Standing Order and, therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.