§ 15. Mr. John Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if Her Majesty's Government will issue advice to sportsmen intending to visit South Africa on the application of the provisions of the Gleneagles agreement to such visits.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneAll governing bodies are aware of the Government's position on the Gleneagles agreement. It is for them in the first instance to advise their members.
§ Mr. CarlisleWill my hon. Friend emphasise that the Gleneagles agreement, however innocuous it may be, is merely a discouragement of sporting links with South Africa, and that Her Majesty's Government have no intention of restricting the freedom of choice of sportsmen who intend to play as to where they play and against whom they play? Will he advise sporting bodies, such as the Test and County Cricket Board, that they have no right to victimise players or to withhold a livelihood from players who exercise their own freedom of choice to go to South Africa?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI hope that my hon. Friend will raise his surveillance to the world problems and the importance of multi-racial sport at home and abroad. The Government signed the Gleneagles agreement in 1977 and reaffirmed it last October in Melbourne. It is entirely for the Test and County Cricket Board how it approaches the dialogue with the cricketers who have gone to South Africa. It is not for me.
§ Mr. Denis Howellrose—
§ Mr. Robert AtkinsWho went to Moscow?
§ Mr. HowellThe suggestion that I went with Aston Villa to Moscow to give comfort to the Russians is ludicrous. As it is the return leg tonight, will the Minister join me in sending greetings to Aston Villa in the hope that it will complete the discomfiture of the Russian football team?
Does the Minister agree that the cricket authorities have done all that they can be expected to do to uphold the Gleneagles agreement, and have been stopped from doing more only by the deception of the cricketers involved, which has put the livelihood of their colleagues in jeopardy? Have the rugby authorities taken a similarly strong line about the clubs of Gloucester and Cardiff? In view of the importance of this issue to world sport and to the Commonwealth Games, will the Minister, either himself or through the Sports Council, call all sports bodies together to consider those great questions for the collective good of British sport?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI gladly endorse the right hon. Gentleman's hopes that Aston Villa, and our other football clubs, should do well in European trophies and championships.
The International Cricket Conference and the Test and County Cricket Board over the years have made it clear that they will not have matches against South African cricket teams. A number of other international governing bodies have followed suit. So far the Rugby Football Union has not given such directions, but I believe that it is something that it will have to consider, as over 100 nations now play Rugby Union. On the other hand, individuals are free to leave the country to participate in sport, but they must acknowledge the problems. The previous Administration took a similar view.
§ Mr. Cyril D. TownsendAs the Government went out of their way to reaffirm the Gleneagles agreement, is it not likely that in the months ahead the people of Britain will appreciate that the activities of the so-called sportsmen in South Africa are shortsighted, selfish and in the long run against the spirit of multi-racial sport, the interests of their colleagues and the long-term interests of the Commonwealth?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneNo one should underestimate the implications of what is involved. We are waiting to welcome the Indian and Pakistan cricket teams. I can only hope that they will still come here to play. They are welcome in the United Kingdom, as are all multi-racial sporting teams.
§ Mr. Roy HughesWill the Minister confirm that South African agents are in Britain to recruit teams for boxing, football, rowing, tennis and so on to visit South Africa? Should not the Government make such agents personae non grata, as we are bound to the Gleneagles agreement? Will the hon. Gentleman be forthright in his condemnation of the hon. Member for Luton, West (Mr. Carlisle), who is such an advocate of South African sporting links, especially as he is chairman of the Conservative Back-Bench committee on sport?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneHon. Members are entitled to then-views. I cannot support the hon. Gentleman's observation. I would not know whether there are South African agents in Britain to co-ordinate a campaign to attract sportsmen to South Africa—
§ Mr. William HamiltonThe Minister should know.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneHon. Members may suggest that I should know, but this is a democratic State.
§ Mr. FlanneryBut the Minister knows everything about us.
§ Mr. MacfarlanePeople are entitled to come and go freely if they have suitable visas or passports and their papers are in order. I see it as no part of my job to monitor the comings and goings of visitors to the United Kingdom.