HC Deb 21 July 1982 vol 28 cc381-3
4. Mr. John Carlisle

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what directions are given by his Department to the Sports Council on the Gleneagles agreement; and whether these directions relate to the council's allocation of funds.

Mr. Skinner

Speak a little faster!

Mr. Macfarlane

I am going at this speed especially for the hon. Gentleman at this time of day.

The Sports Council is fully conversant with, and supports, the Government's commitment to the Gleneagles agreement. The council is required by its Royal charter to take note of Government policy. On 12 October 1977 the Government directed the council to withhold any financial support that might otherwise be available to British sports people competing in or staging events in which South Africa is represented.

Mr. Carlisle

Does my hon. Friend accept that any Minister with responsibility for sport—I include the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Howell) when he held the position—has no authority to direct the Sports Council where it should place its funds, and I refer particularly to sports in which there is South African participation? Has not the time come for the Minister to look again at the South African sports which, like soccer, have become fully multi-racial and should be exempt from the Gleneagles agreement?

Mr. Macfarlane

I hope that my hon. Friend will consider the importance of multi-racial sport throughout the Commonwealth and, indeed, the world.

Mr. McNally

Does the Minister agree that the vast sums made available to send teams to South Africa show a political motive by the sponsors? Is there not ample evidence that it is a concerted attempt to undermine the Gleneagles agreement? Should not sporting bodies be told that so that they can tell their members, and should not those members who bring their sport into disrepute be disciplined?

Mr. Macfarlane

It is a difficult area. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, Foreign Office Ministers and I have made clear the Government's total commitment to the Gleneagles agreement, and we have conveyed that view to governing bodies. Most people will recognise that the tour was phoney, as many other tours have been.

Mr. Marlow

As my hon. Friend supports the Gleneagles agreement, and as he is no doubt aware that 18 per cent. of Israel's population is of Arab extraction, will he look at each international team from Israel to make sure that it reflects that proportion and, where it does not, take action through the Sports Council to ensure that money is not expended in that direction?

Mr. Macfarlane

I have no doubt that my hon. Friend is resourceful enough to approach the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on that matter.

Mr. Denis Howell

What does the Minister make of the antics of the hon. Member for Luton, West (Mr. Carlisle), who, on 18 June, demanded that the Home Secretary establish an inquiry into why the BBC was flying Mr. Jimmy Hill around Spain in pursuance of his World Cup duties, yet appeared on television within two weeks and demanded that the same Mr. Jimmy Hill be flown around South Africa in support of a private football organisation and in defiance of the Gleneagles agreement and the FIFA rules?

Mr. Macfarlane

I have no comment to make. Most people recognise that this and other tours are phoney. In recent weeks certain reputations have become tarnished and actions have bordered on the farcical. It is a matter not only for the domestic governing body, but for FIFA, and both bodies have made it clear that they exclude South Africa from international competition.

Mr. Carlisle

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. With respect to my hon. Friend, in view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply and the interest in the House in the subject, I give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.