§ 2.39 p.m.
THE EARL OF HOMEMy Lords, if the House will allow me—the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, is not here—1 should like to make an explanation to the noble Lord, Lord Silkin, who is leading the Opposition. Yesterday, during the debate, inspired by a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Walston, I said: what did he think Lord Listowel was doing all the time in Ghana if he had not been making political representations to President Nkrumah? T had, of course, quite forgotten for the moment that Lord Listowel was not High Commissioner—he was Governor-General. In the circumstances, the suggestion I made that he should always have been on Dr. Nkrumah's doorstep making political points was quite improper. I should like to apologise to the noble Earl and to ask for the foregiveness of the House in this respect.
§ LORD SILKINMy Lords, we had hoped to get in touch with the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, but we have not been able to succeed. The last thing I want to do is to hit a man when he is 86 down. We quite understand that this was a mistake which was made on the spur of the moment, and we fully accept that.