§ 3.52 p.m.
THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, by your leave, I should now like to repeat a statement made by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State in another place:
"As a result of discussions last week with the Prime Minister of Malaya and other Malayan Ministers, we agreed that the creation of a Federation of Malaysia, embracing Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei, was a desirable aim in the interests of the peoples concerned.
"We accordingly decided to set up a Commission to ascertain the views of the inhabitants of North Borneo and Sarawak, and we made arrangements to consult the Sultan of Brunei.
"We also agreed that, in the event of a Federation of Malaysia being established, the existing defence agreement between Britain and Malaya should be extended to embrace all the territories concerned, subject to the proviso that Britain would have the right to continue to maintain her base at Singapore.
"The base at Singapore is, of course, a British base and not a S.E.A.T.O. base; and we would naturally not be free to transfer control of the base to any other nation or group of nations. However, the agreement makes it clear that Britain would be permitted to make such use of the base at Singapore as she may consider necessary for the purpose of assisting in the defence of Malaysia, and for Commonwealth defence, and for the preservation of peace in South East Asia.
"A White Paper containing a joint statement by the two Governments, the terms of reference of the Commission and the text of the agreement on defence is available at the Printed Paper Office."
§ THE EARL OF LISTOWELMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Duke for this important statement and I should like, if I may, to ask him three questions arising out of it. The first question is this: was 1055 the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Menzies, consulted by Her Majesty's Government before this agreement was concluded? The second is: does the Prime Minister of Malaya, Mr. Tunku Abdul Rahman, agree with the Government about the interpretation of the agreement? I hope this is the case, and I expect it is, but certain reports in the Press over the weekend threw some doubt upon it. The third question is: does the whole agreement, the political part as well as the defence part, depend on Singapore's joining the Federation?
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIREMy Lords, the answer to the noble Earl's first question is, yes, Mr. Menzies was consulted. His second question I would answer in this way. I am sure that the Prime Minister of Malaya would not disagree with anything that I told your Lordships this afternoon. On the third question, of whether it depends upon the Federation of Malaya and Singapore. we naturally hope that the negotiations—they have reached an advanced stage between the Governments of Malaya and Singapore and their heads—will be brought to a successful conclusion. In the unfortunate event of their breaking down—and we can see no reason why they should—a different situation would be created which I feel it would be unwise for me to go into this afternoon.
§ LORD KILLEARNMy Lords, may I ask the noble Duke this, having been stationed in Singapore for some time and therefore taking a certain interest in this matter? Am Ito gather that the Government of Singapore are in agreement with this proposal for Federation? I was not quite sure. Did I not hear clearly?
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIREMy Lords, yes; the Governments of Singapore and Malaya have worked in close collaboration over this matter and the Government of Singapore is in general agreement with the proposals set up.
§ LORD KILLEARNMy Lords, I am much obliged because it has been obvious for many years past that the separation of Singapore from Malaya was nonsense, and the White Paper published caused a lot of trouble. It is good news that the situation is now being put straight.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, may I ask the noble Duke whether he is aware that we on these Liberal Benches welcome this agreement and would wish to congratulate both Governments on arriving at what, on the face of it, seems to be a highly satisfactory situation?