HC Deb 15 April 1981 vol 3 cc314-5
Mr. Farr

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will seek a Commonwealth initiative on the situation in Grenada.

Mr. Ridley

No, Sir.

Mr. Farr

Is my hon. Friend aware that there is a great fund of expertise and good will in the Commonwealth which should be drawn upon before events in Grenada progress beyond retrieval?

Mr. Ridley

Since the People's Revolutionary Government came to power by an armed coup in March 1979 democratic processes have been suspended. No elections have been held, the press is strictly controlled and there are reported to be about 100 political prisoners in Grenada. It is questionable whether, in those circumstances, it would be right for the Commonwealth to mount an initiative, because the Commonwealth is an association of independent States and there is no precedent, other than the rather doubtful one of Uganda, for it taking an initiative of the sort that my hon. Friend has in mind.

Mr. Ron Brown

Whatever the faults of the present regime in Grenada, is it not important for the British Government to say to the President of the United States that he and his colleagues have no right to interfere in that part of the world? Is it not important for us to encourage the democratic process in Grenada? Clearly that can happen only if we encourage the normal processes to operate. The armed might of the United States will certainly not help. It has not helped elsewhere and—

Mr. Speaker

Order. That is enough to be going on with.

Mr. Ridley

I am not aware that the United States or any other country has interfered in the internal affairs of Grenada. The United States is not giving aid to Grenada and I think that that is what is referred to when the charge of interference is made. But since Grenada has signed economic agreements with the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries, it would seem to me more appropriate for aid to come from those sources.