§ 18. Mr. John Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Gleneagles agreement extends to the allocation of moneys by the Sports Council to sporting bodies participating in competitions attended by sportsmen from South Africa.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe Government's commitment to Gleneagles is reflected by the Sports Council's policy not to pay grant towards the expenses of sporting events at which South Africa would be represented.
§ Mr. CarlisleIs my hon. Friend aware that this policy of intervention is contrary to the spirit of the Sports Council's royal charter and has denied the opportunity of international competition to many British sportsmen? 844 What do the South African sports authorities have to do to convince my hon. Friend that sport is now totally integrated in South Africa?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI do not know that hon. Members on both sides of the House would accept my hon. Friend's final observations. I remind my hon. Friend that article 3 of the Sports Council's charter requires it to have regard to Government policy. When the council last discussed the issue of South Africa on 11 May 1981 it agreed that it should continue to support the Government's commitment to the Gleneagles agreement. That was reaffirmed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting at Melbourne in 1981 and has been reaffirmed since by my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
§ Mr. CanavanIs the Minister aware of the widespread opposition throughout the world of sport to any suggestion that a single penny of public money should be used to subsidise any purpose that would give added credibility to the apartheid regime that discriminates racially against people in sport, as well as in many other activities? Will the Minister repudiate any such suggestion, especially when it comes from someone who seems to have a vested interest in organising sports tours to South Africa, along with the likes of Jimmy Hill?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI hope that the hon. Gentleman will read in Hansard what I have just told the House.
§ Mr. McNallyWill the Minister continue to advise individuals and teams against being lured into competition against South African teams in a way specifically designed to undermine the Gleneagles agreement?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe hon. Gentleman knows that the Government seek to persuade sportsmen and women and teams against sporting contact with South Africa. At the end of the day it must be for individuals to decide where they travel to play their sport.
§ Mr. John TownendDoes my hon. Friend not agree that the Gleneagles agreement has to a certain extent increased hypocrisy and reduced individual freedom in sport? Is it not time that the whole issue was examined again?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe Gleneagles agreement, as I have already told the House, was discussed at Melbourne in September 1981 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. It was there agreed to uphold the principles of the Gleneagles agreement. I have nothing to add.
§ Mr. Roy HughesIs not the real issue the fact that South Africa was expelled by the International Olympic Committee and by international sports federations? Is it not the case that the ban by the Commonwealth Heads of Government was a later decision? Does the Minister not feel that it is the views of sportsmen and women that should be respected and which should ultimately predominate?
§ Mr. John CarlisleYes, they should.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneHistory shows that a number of world governing bodies Of sport— football, cricket, the Olympics and perhaps one or two others—voted in the 1960s and the early 1970s to exclude South Africa from participation. We must be conscious of the fact that this country encourages multi-racial sport.