Zimbabwe

HC Deb 03 February 1982 vol 17 cc296-7

13. Mr. Farr

asked the Lord Privy Seal if he will make a statement on the forthcoming visit to Zimbabwe by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Mr. Luce

My right hon. and noble Friend is much looking forward to his visit to Zimbabwe from 25 to 27 February at the invitation of the Zimbabwe Government.

Mr. Farr

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Will the Foreign Secretary be having further discussions with the Government of Zimbabwe in relation to the African resettlement programme and the progress that it is making.. and on whether Britain can play an even greater role in financing that programme than it is playing today?

Mr. Luce

I know that my right hon. and noble Friend will be looking forward to a discussion about the economic situation in Zimbabwe and how our own aid programme is going. As my hon. Friend—who takes a great interest in Zimbabwe—knows, the amount of money that we are giving through my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development for Land resettlement amounts to £30 million of British taxpayers' money. Only a small beginning has been made in the use of that money, but I understand that progress is now being made on the resettlement programme.

Mr. Dobson

What will the Foreign Secretary be able to tell the Government of Zimbabwe about steps taken by the British Government to prevent the South African-backed guerrillas from blowing up railway lines in order to stop the export of Zimbabwe's maize surplus to those surrounding black African States that are going short of food as a result of the deliberate actions of the South African Government?

Mr. Luce

Clearly it is in the British Government's interest to see stability in Southern Africa and a sensible practical relationship between Zimbabwe and South Africa. In that connection I have noted—as no doubt the hon. Gentleman has—that the South African Government have decided to give back to the Zimbabwe Government a considerable number of locomotives, which will enable them to use their railway system to greater effect. I have also noticed that the South African Government have suggested that Zimbabwe might now like to renew the trade agreement between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Mr. Nicholas Winterton

Will my hon. Friend say whether the Foreign Secretary intends to raise with the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe the ability of those who have left Zimbabwe to withdraw their assets? Is he aware that there could well be a scheme whereby as much public investment from other countries was made into Zimbabwe as was withdrawn by those who have sought, for one reason or another, to leave the country, so that Zimbabwe would not be worse off by the withdrawal of those assets?

Mr. Luce

I know that my hon. Friend, together with other hon. Members, has shown a great interest in and concern for the problem. We have expressed our concern to the Zimbabwe Government about the effect upon British citizens of certain foreign exchange controls, which have existed in one form or another in that country for a long time. I am sure that my right hon. and noble Friend will wish to discuss the general economic situation, which has a strong bearing on foreign exchange controls.

Mr. Speaker

Mr. Healey—Mr. Bob Cryer.

Mr. Cryer

rose—

Mr. Speaker

Order. I should like to make it clear to the House that I was not mistaking the hon. Member for Keighley (Mr. Cryer) for his right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey). I had misunderstood the look on the right hon. Gentleman's face.

Mr. Cryer

We have a very united front today, by the way, Mr. Speaker.

Will the Foreign Secretary, when he goes to Zimbabwe, be discussing the shortage of funds of the Zimbabwean Government for the provision of education for their students in Britain? Is the Minister aware that the Zimbabwean Government have had to withdraw Zimbabwean students from colleges of further and higher education and universities in Britain because of the shortage of funds? Would it not be reasonable to provide extra funds to help Zimbabwe to develop in the future?

Mr. Luce

The question would be better directed to my right hon. Friend the Minister for Overseas Development, but the House might like to know that he, too, will be visiting Zimbabwe very shortly—just before my right hon. and noble Friend—and will have a chance to talk about the aid programme when he gets there.