HL Deb 12 December 1962 vol 245 cc685-708

3.4 p.m.

LORD OGMORE rose to call attention to the situation in the Colony of Aden and in the Federation of South Arabia; to consider (the proposals contained in the White Paper Cmnd. 1814; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, it is some considerable time, so far as I can recall, since we in your Lordships' House had a debate on Aden. Thus country is responsible for Aden and for the South Arabian Protectorate. Therefore, I must ask your Lordships to turn now from the congested streets of London to the hot, arid plains of South Arabia. It is an important part of the world. A great many things have been happening there, and I believe it is our responsibility to find from the Government what are their intentions with regard to that part of Asia and Africa. The Government have proposed a federation between the Crown Colony of Aden and the Protectorate of Southern Arabia. The Federation of South Arabia, in order to make things more difficult, is going to be a federation of a Crown Colony and an existing Federation. The existing Federation of South Arabia does not include the Eastern Arabian protectorates, and the Eastern Arabian protectorates, for some reason which we shall no doubt hear from the noble Marquess when he comes to reply, are not to come within the purview of the proposed new federation. The Crown Colony of Aden is 80 square miles with a population of 200,000. That population of 200,000 includes—this, I think, is important to remember—no fewer than 80,000 people from the Yemen and 12,000 Indians. The Protectorate of Southern Arabia has an area of 111,000 square miles, with a population of 758,000 people.

The White Paper, Cmnd. 1814, to which I have directed your Lordships' attention, contains the proposals and the intention of the British Government to proceed with this new Federation of the Crown Colony of Aden and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It is subject to an escape clause by the British Government—not by the Aden Government—in the twelve months after the end of the sixth year from the entry of Aden into the new Federation. There has been dissatisfaction in Aden itself, not as to the principle of federation but as to the timing. The moderate Opposition accepts federation in principle, but believes that fresh elections for the Legislative Council should take place before federation is achieved; that the Colony of Aden should have self-government before that particular time, and that democratic methods of government should be introduced into the Protectorate of South Arabia instead of the present absolute rule by the Emirs.

As a result of this feeling of dissatisfaction Muhammad Said Husseiny, the Minister of Education and Information, has resigned and a number of other Ministers are said to be thinking of following suit. The extreme Opposition in Aden—or, shall I say, that part of the Opposition which has extreme views—is against federation entirely; with them it is not a question of timing. Abdullah Asnag, who might be said to be one of the leaders of the extremist view, and is the General Secretary to the Aden T.U.C., has been arrested, together with certain other members of the T.U.C., and they are now on trial. The General Secretary of the T.U.C., according to the Sunday Times, has said: While we welcome moral support from the Yemeni Republic we know we must continue our struggle on our own as before the Yemeni revolution.

There is no doubt that continual strikes have affected the Aden economy. The Aden Legislative Council approved the Federation plan in September, but only by a minority of elected members' votes. All six candidates of the Party supporting the plan were defeated in the recent municipal elections. Nine political prisoners, mostly, I believe, members of the trade unions, were caned recently in gaol, with twelve strokes each, before their trial, for refusing food. That was because they went on hunger strike and also refused certain duties. It has been admitted, both in your Lordships' House and in another place, that in the case of some of these prisoners, who were, after all, political prisoners, breaches of prison regulations were made by the authorities in caning them when they did.

In November, Cmnd. 1183 was published recording the financial arrangements made by the British Government for the Government of Southern Arabia. Aden is an important British base; our Forces spend £11 million a year there, excluding the amount spent on works and services. So far as the economy of Aden is concerned, the base, the oil refinery and the oil bunkering are the important elements. If those elements were no longer present, the entrepôt could provide work for only a third of those who are now employed. This has been stated in another place by Mr. Nigel Fisher.

My Lords, in this general review of the situation in Aden I want to say a word about the Yemen, because although the Yemen is not within the responsibility of the noble Marquess, your Lordships will see that because so many Yemeni people work in Aden, because of the words of Mr. Asnag which I have quoted, and because of the Yemen's proximity to Aden, it is a very important element in an already rather confused situation. The Yemen was the old Arabia Felix of the Romans, and it is thought that in those days, as in North Africa, it produced a great deal of products which the desert does not produce at all. It was once part of the Kingdom of Saba, or Sheba, from which the Queen went to visit Solomon in days long past. It was in fact on the caravan route between Africa and the East.

The situation before the recent revolt in the Yemen is described very well in an article in this month's Contemporary Review by Professor Roucek. I will read a very short extract from the article which will give your Lordships some idea of the situation there. Professor Roucek says: No Yemeni was allowed to leave his village or town or even to walk in the streets between 10 p.m. and sunrise.

Then later he says: Executions, the penalty for murder or treason, were usually public. Some 40 unfortunates were beheaded with swords on the football field in Taiz after an attempted revolution in 1955. The Imam had their heads hung on the branches of trees as a warning. Persons found guilty of adultery were sewn into a sack and stoned to death. Public whippings, up to 80 lashes for a man and 60 for a woman, were decreed for other crimes. When citizens were slow to pay taxes, troops were billeted in their homes until they paid up. Prisoners were chained, including school-boys. There was slavery on a small scale on the farms of Yemen's sandy and malarial Red Sea Coast, and in the Imam's own house-hold…". In view of these circumstances it may be no surprise to your Lordships that there was a revolt when the Imam died. On Imam Ahmad's death in September the Yemeni Army revolutionaries, under Brigadier Abdullah Sallal, seized control, and the new Imam succeeded in escaping. The present Imam, Muhammed, is trying to recapture his throne, but it will be doubtful, of course, whether he is able to do so in view of the fact that the Egyptian Army has some 13,000 soldiers in the Yemen, supported by quite a number of aircraft and tanks of Russian manufacture and origin.

The revolt has had a profound effect on the unstable Arab world from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and nowhere more than in Aden and the South Arabian Federation. In October a Yemeni bomber and two fighters attacked a town in Beihan, one of the South Arabian Federation States. They were said to be Ilyushin bombers and MiG fighters. President Kennedy has recently written with proposals for mediation to various rulers in nearby States interested or implicated. That, my Lords, is the very restless situation in Aden, South Arabia and in the neighbouring State of the Yemen.

I would ask the Government some questions, of which I have given them notice, arising out of this state of affairs. The first is as to the timing of federation. I believe that most moderate opinion in the Yemen and in this country supports federation as the ultimate objective. But is the Government's timing right? We have seen, for instance, what has happened in Central Africa; we are now seeing even in East Africa the problems of federation. They are difficult ones and it is, I think, largely a question of timing: to get federation at a time when the people will accept it readily. They are obviously not going to accept it readily or at all in Aden. Should we therefore not try to meet their requirements? Should we not try to have elections now, perhaps even to have self-government for Aden, before the federal arrangements are entered into.

The second question is this. What proposals are the Government making to turn an autocratic régime, which is at present the case in the various Amirates of Southern Arabia, info a more democratic system? Thirdly, I would ask what are the proposals for the East Arabian Amirates; what sort of future do Her Majesty's Government see for them? The fourth question concerns the economic picture of Aden and the South Arabian Protectorate. At the moment the economy is very narrowly based indeed. They depend, as I have outlined to your Lordships, on the military base, on the oil refinery, on oil bunkering, and on the entrepôt trade. This is a highly dangerous form of economy. It is all right while it lasts, but I do not think anyone would feel that that tin itself should be the sole basis of the economy of an area. Some years ago we were trying, with some success, to irrigate the South Arabian Peninsula. It was found that in fact a great many products could be grown there if there was suitable irrigation. I should like to ask the noble Marquess what plans he has for the development of agriculture in South Arabia.

I then come to the military base. This is obviously important, though I do not know quite how important in these days. It is quite clear that Cyprus is no longer a base but a staging post, as those of us who spoke on the Cyprus Independence Bill said it would be. It does not look as if Kenya may be a base for ever; there may be difficulties there. Is Aden likely to remain a base, and how important is it? Is it a good place for one of the stockpiles of equipment and arms which General Norstad wants to see in various parts of the world for the mobile NATO force he desires to bring into being, if the NATO Powers will agree? And, even without NATO, is it a good plan for us to have these stockpiles all over the world?

We saw only yesterday how mobile troops can be when they have not got to carry arms and equipment about and when they can pick them up from a stockpile. The Royal Welch Fusiliers flew in civilian clothes yesterday from this country to Singapore in view of the difficulties in Brunei. That seems to me a very good indication of how mobile around the world which they can use on arrival. My Lords, those, in short, troops can be if there are stockpiles are the questions I should like to ask, and I trust that the noble Marquess will be able to give us an indication of what the Government feel about the very confused and difficult situation in Aden and dm the nearby Protectorate. I beg to move for Papers.

3.21 p.m.

THE EARL OF LISTOWEL

My Lords, we are all grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, for raising this important matter, for his extremely well-informed and moderate speech, and for the liberal (if I may say so, using the word with a small "1") spirit in which he formed his recommendations to the Government about policy in Aden. With most of what he said, I think I can agree. As the noble Lord rightly pointed out, Aden is a small territory that cannot afford the luxury of independence without some form of association with its neighbours. That is realised, I think, by most of the people in Aden as clearly as it is realised here. But, of course, such an association could take many different forms. It could be membership of the Federation of South Arabia, and that is what the Government are now proposing.

But, my Lords, what we say—and I think this was implicit in what the noble Lord said—is that if Aden were to join the Federation the decision should be taken by a more representative Legislative Council after elections, and the terms of entry should be negotiated between a Government based on a representative Legislative Council and the Government of the Federation. There is yet another alternative which cannot be excluded, if we are consulting what may be the wishes of the people of Aden, and that is some form of relationship with the Yemen. The new Government of the Yemen appears anxious to modernise the country, and it has the backing of the people of the Yemen to a much greater extent than its predecessor. If it succeeds in sweeping away the feudal practices of the old Imam, which the noble Lord described in considerable detail, it will become a magnet for the people of the neighbouring countries in South Arabia.

But, my Lords, my real point is this. Whatever form a future association between the Colony of Aden and the hinterland may take, it should be decided with the full support and backing of the people of Aden, and not by any premature and somewhat arbitrary decision of Her Majesty's Government. I fear that, by their decision that Aden shall join the Federation in March, the Government may be repeating the same mistake that was made in Central Africa, by forcing the people into a federation without taking proper steps to consult them and to ascertain their wishes. The Government have pointed out that this proposal has been approved by the Aden Legislative Council, but I am quite sure that anyone who examines the composition of the Council will agree that it is not a representative body. It will also be agreed that, when this proposal for federation came before the Council, most of the small number of elected members were against it. Since then, as the noble Lord has pointed tout, the Minister of Education—one of the elected Ministers who supported the proposal—has resigned, because he is now against the idea of federation. What we are asking the Government to do—and in this again we agree with the noble Lord—is to test public opinion in Aden by allowing an election before federation takes place.

Let us look at the matter in an entirely practical and, I think, sensible way, on the basis of the present unreformed composition of the Legislative Council, and on the basis of the present franchise in Aden. If all the elected seats in the present Legislative Council, unrepresentative though it may be, were to go to anti-federation candidates, that surely would show the unwisdom of rushing into the Federation of South Arabia. If they went the other way, the Government would have a strong case for going ahead. But What seems to us quite inexcusable is to rush into federation, as the Government propose to do in March, without any attempt to sound public opinion, and with many indications that most of the Adenis are against it.

I think that anyone who looks at the memoires of that great Governor of Aden, Sir Tom Hickinbotham, will be greatly impressed by the immense patience with which he waited for years to obtain the agreement of the Sheikdoms, of the Emirates, to join in the Federation of South Arabia. He and Her Majesty's Government, in the case of this Federation, were prepared to wait for many years in order to persuade the Emirates, the Governments of those States in the Protectorate, to join together in a federation. I am sure the noble Marquess will agree with that as a statement of fact.

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COLONIAL AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)

My Lords, they should have done it earlier.

THE EARL OF LISTOWEL

My Lords, the noble Marquess says that they should have done it earlier; and he may be right. But, at any rate, it was not done until we were quite certain that they could come into it in a wholehearted way.

I think the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, was right in referring to the Yemen. It is impossible to discuss Aden without also discussing the Yemen. The Government should also, in my view, do whatever they can to secure the good will of the new Government of the Yemen. Most of the unskilled workers in Aden are, of course, Yemenis, and good relations with the Yemen are extremely important for our relations, and for the relations of the Government of Aden, with the people of the Colony. There are, for example, allegations that British arms and equipment are being smuggled from the Federation into the Yemen for use on the Royalist side. My Lords, surely these allegations should be inquired into. If they are false then Her Majesty's Government can deny them. If they are correct, then everything possible should be done to stop this flow of arms into the Yemen. I should like to ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are prepared to inquire into these allegations of the passage of arms across the frontier.

My Lords, another thing which I hope Her Majesty's Government will do is to make every effort to stop foreign intervention in the affairs of the Yemen. In a policy of this kind we should be in full sympathy with the policy of the United States, and I have no doubt that Brigadier Sallal, the head of the new Yemeni Government, is just as anxious as we are to dispense with the services of his Egyptian ally. If we were to use our influence in Jordan to stop support for the Imam, and if the United States were to use its influence in Saudi Arabia in the same direction, surely the Government of the Yemen would soon be in a position to arrange for the withdrawal of troops from the United Arab Republic.

My Lords, why are we so slow to give recognition, de facto recognition, at least, to the new Government of the Yemen? Why do we always allow Russia and the Communist bloc to get in first and to acquire the credit of being on the side of Arab nationalism? And it is not only the Communist countries that have recognised the new Government of the Yemen: Western European countries, including Western Germany, have also done so. This, surely, is something that should be considered, and urgently considered, and in the context of these other things, which are also of great importance. Because, my Lords, I am quite sure (and in this I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore) that good relations with the Yemen are absolutely essential to a happy relationship on our side with the people of Aden.

A word or two about our base in Aden. It is being widely said in the Colony that. Aden is being forced into a British-controlled Federation because of the British base. I am simply reporting that as a point of view. This is extremely harmful to us, because it is turning the base into the main obstacle in the way of the political aspirations of the Adenis. We shall, of course, increase this political hostility in Aden if we force Aden into the Federation without giving the people of Aden a further chance of expressing their wishes, and this will bring about the maximum towards our base in Aden. My Lords, I hope that we have learnt the lesson that no military base is effective if it is surrounded by a hostile population. That, surely, is why we had to give up the Suez Canal zone; and we had the same experience later in Cyprus.

The United States has secure bases in foreign countries all over the world; and they are secure because they are there with the good will of the Government and of most of the people (I do not say the unilateral disarmers altogether approve of the American base in Holy Loch, but they have the good will of most of the people) of those countries. We cannot possibly—and I hope that the Government will be impressed by this argument, at least—have a secure base in Aden without the good will of the people of Aden. If we do what the Government are contemplating doing at the moment, we shall undoubtedly lose whatever good will we still retain. The only alternative, if we cannot hold the base with good will, is to hold it by force. But, my Lords, if we tried to hold the Aden base by force it would mean that we should incur the hostility of most of the Arab world and place this country in a position from which it would have ultimately to withdraw in a humilating fashion.

The political future of Aden and the security of our base are intimately connected. Unless we can find some solution for the future of Aden which has the support of the people of Aden we shall incur their hostility, and we shall find ourselves in the same position there as we were for a very long time, until we found a political solution, in Cyprus. So, my Lords, I beg the Government to think again, to have second thoughts, and to give an opportunity to sound the opinion of the people of Aden about their political future before rushing them, as the Government propose to do, into the Federation of South Arabia.

3.35 p.m.

LORD GRENFELL

My Lords, I venture to intervene in this debate as I visited Aden with a Parliamentary delegation to the Services from September 2 to 8 of this year. Many things have happened since then which may affect Aden in the future but do not affect the request by Aden that they join the Federation of South Arabian States—and that is a fact, my Lords; it is a request by Aden that they should join. On our arrival, we received a long telegram from the People's Socialist Party putting forward their views very forcibly, and, in consultation with the Governor, Sir Charles Johnson, we agreed to receive a delegation during our stay from the United National Party and the People's Socialist Party; but owing to our special role for the Services we decided to take note of but not to comment on their remarks.

The United National Party were strongly in favour of federation for economic, geographical and historic reasons, and also feared that if this did not come about they might, at some future date, if Her Majesty's Government decided to leave Aden, be left like Malta, or like Singapore without Malaya. The People's Socialist Party were frankly difficult to understand. The Party is closely affiliated to the Aden Trade Union Council, a very militant body. The Party demanded a universal vote prior to federation, and claimed that they had the majority of the colony on their side. They also favoured a Federation of South Arabia, Aden and the Yemen. What was strange was that they freely admitted that a large proportion of their supporters were Yemenis, who were, after all, foreigners, and had no vote. I think this must be rather widely stressed in this debate to-night.

My Lords, I believe the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, stated the figure of 80,000 Yemenis in Aden. My information is that it is a moving population of something between 10,000 and 17.000 who come in over the border—which, after all, is merely a line on the map, and impossible to police—to work, in Aden, doing mostly manual work. They sleep in the streets, or anywhere near the work which they are carrying on, even in caves—and I saw some of them in these dwellings. During our stay there was a mass meeting, which was permissible, and on its dispersal a procession was formed, which was not permissible, and I believe that a mosque was desecrated. The noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, mentioned Abdul Asnag. He was the leader of that procession, and he is not now being tried. He was tried some time ago. He was committed to prison for a short period.

LORD OGMORE

May I say that, according to my information, on the 7th of this month, Abdul Asnag pleaded not guilty to various charges before the chief magistrate of the Aden Colony

LORD GRENFELL

I can only say that my information came from His Excellency the Governor and was of a different character. In 1960 a Bill was passed to make strikes and processions illegal as the militancy of the trade union leaders was causing chaos in Aden. There can be no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the people of Aden want federation; and when I am talking about the people of Aden I am cutting out the Yemenis who live or work in Aden.

I feel no doubt in my mind that, owing to (shall we say?) the militancy of a small proportion of the Adenese, it will be very difficult to get a fair, universal vote, a vote free of intimidations. That is especially so taking into account the Yemen as it is to-day. I feel convinced that the great majority do want this federation. Apart from the work which they get from British Petroleum, a great number dive by the trade with the garrison, as there are very few exports. They have no wish to see the English go. We spent a morning visiting the Supreme Council of South Arab States at the capital, Al Ittihad, and they appeared to be statesmanlike and in full agreement with the details of the White Paper.

My Lords, as our main object was a visit to the Services, may I turn to them for a short period? It would be foolish to hide our eyes to the fact that geographically Aden is not ideal from the point of view of defence. The frontier with the Yemen is bard to define and almost impossible to police. The number of Yemenis who come in obviously tend to make a "fifth column". Suppose that the Yemen is backed by President Nasser. I do not believe, as the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, said, that Brigadier Sallal would like to get the Egyptians out; I believe he is hand in glove with them.

THE EARL OF LISTOWEL

May I point out to the noble Lord that I said I thought it was more than likely that Brigadier Sallal would like to get the Egyptians out as soon as he was able to dispense with their services. I do not think he wants to be dominated by a foreign country any more than we do.

LORD GRENFELL

Well, we can have our different opinions on that. Of course there are many difficulties, but I believe they can be overcome. My Lords, on the delegation we were highly impressed with the very close liaison between His Excellency the Governor, the Commander-in-chief and the Service chiefs. At this stage may I say a few wards about the Kuwait operation? As your Lordships will doubtless know, one of the main roles of the Middle East Command is to support, at their request, States with whom we have treaty obligations and to safeguard the continuing flow of oil from the Middle East. It was within this role that the action of Kuwait took place.

VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS BOROUGH

I did not understand that we were discussing Kuwait. We are discussing Aden.

LORD GRENFELL

We are discussing the affairs of Aden and the Services of Aden come in that discussion. Discussion in the House of Lords has always been free and I think it is only fair that I should continue. It was within that role that the action of Kuwait took place, and it was carried out by the troops stationed in Aden. There has been a great deal of publicity both inside and outside Parliament about the Kuwait affair, some of it to the detriment of the planning and health of the troops concerned. Noble Lords will know that the distances are great and hence a great deal of troop movement is done by air, fully supported by landing craft and landing ships of the Royal Navy. We all know that what we call the "fire engine" role of our Forces is to get troops on the ground before a shooting war breaks out and hence ensure control of the operation. In one quarter the operation was called a shambles. All I can say is that if this was so, which I disbelieve, it was an extremely successful shambles. Of course a great many lessons were learned, but nothing succeeds like success and I think we can leave the matter there.

My Lords, the other report which was sent home—and may I stress it was not sent through the usual channels?—was that, if it had come to a shooting war, the troops would have been unable to fight owing to the climate. This accusation is hotly denied in Aden and deeply resented. Of course the climate was hot; so it was when I was there, but if I, as an old man with one lung, could stand a week of hard work, then certainly the young men of to-day could stand a great deal more. It seems to be the custom nowadays to denigrate ourselves as a nation and our young men in particular. I met many of the Services of all ranks during my stay and I should like to pay tribute to them as healthy young men of high morale and with a high sense of purpose, whether they were serving on sea, on land or in the air. I may say, in fact, that the Services of to-day are all right!

The R.A.F. at Kamaskar airfield are continually fighting against corrosion troubles caused by the damp heat and sand blast to paint. It seemed to me that every possible demand for air conditioning in maintenance workshops should be met. It must be remembered that this airfield, apart from being a staging point for the Far East, is being used by civil air lines and also has to keep planes at immediate readiness. The troops concerned seem to me to be, on the whole, extremely happy. Their tour of duty is two years. They are well fed, they have good clubs and everything is being done for their entertainment. Married quarters are excellent and the waiting period for a married man to have his family out is normally about three months. I felt it was my duty, having met them, to pay tribute to our troops in Aden; so many things have been said to their detriment.

I should like also to say a few words on Aden's strategic side. A cantonment is being built, and very well built, in Little Aden for the troops who are at present quartered in camps belonging to British Petroleum. Here I may pay tribute to the British Petroleum Company, who put all their recreational facilities at the disposal of the troops, which has made a great difference to their stay there. There is still room in Little Aden for an extension to the cantonment, which could take the Strategic Reserve from Kenya should it be decided to move it from there. This extension would, I believe, take about two years to build and hence an early decision seems to be indicated as to if and when the removal from Kenya should take place, as the value of the Middle East Command cannot be overestimated.

I could not leave the subject of the Services without paying my tribute to the Federal Regular Army, one battalion of which we visited at Ataq. Commanded by British officers and Arab officers, it is a highly efficient body of men, with a role almost identical with that of the British Army and Indian Army in the old days of the North-West Frontier. It was a delight to be with them and brought back many happy memories. Finally, may I extend to the Government of Aden, to all the Adenese and to the Federation of South Arabian States my sincere wishes for a happy and prosperous Federation, and to all in Aden my thanks for all the wonderful hospitality we received?

3.52 p.m.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, I wish to come back to the terms of the Motion moved by the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, calling attention to the situation in the Colony of Aden and in the Federation. We have heard from the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, some interesting views on the political situation in Aden, and as he has just been there of course we must pay close attention to his opinions, but I must say that he did not give much evidence in support of his opinion that the great majority of the people of Aden are in favour of federation. How can anybody tell whether they are in favour or not until there are elections and there is freedom of expression and association in the Colony? There may be a great deal of political support from Yemeni immigrant workers for the Parties that are hostile to federation, but what is wrong with that? There is no voting in question. The fact that the Yemeni who come into Aden live in caves and in the streets does not seem to me to be really relevant to the question. I do not know whether the noble Lord was implying that it was their fault for being so improvident, but to me it sounded as if the Aden Government had been rather lacking in the provision of houses for their workers.

LORD GRENFELL

My Lords, I did not wish to get up at this moment, but the fact remains that these are nomad workers, who come in for a short period, work on the roads or at other manual labour, and then go back over the border. It is not a question of housing. They do not seem to wish it.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, of course, I accept the noble Lord's report on his visit, but I still am of the opinion that he produced no evidence in support of his opinion that the majority of the people of Aden are in favour of federation. I have no qualification to speak on Aden myself because I have never stayed there. My only reason for speaking this afternoon is that yesterday I was shown a document from Aden, which seemed to me to contain such serious implications that I think your Lordships ought to be apprised of it without delay. I noticed that there was a Question in another place yesterday on the subject of this document, but that Question was not reached.

This is a Bill presented to the Legislature of Aden by the Attorney-General, under the title An Ordinance to Provide for the Registration of Societies and for Matters Related Thereto. It was published some months ago. I am told that it is the intention of the Aden Government to present it to the Legislature. In his memorandum, the Attorney-General says: The purpose of this Bill is to amend the law relating to the registration of societies now contained in the Clubs Ordinance, in which the word 'club' is used to include societies. He sums up the object as being To give the right of registration and thus the formation of a lawful society to members of the public but at the same time to discourage the formation of societies which may prove inimical to the public good, and to provide for the public benefit some control towards the better management of societies. What we should like to know from Her Majesty's Government is what this Bill is really for. On reading the Bill itself, it does not look as if it were going to facilitate the registration of societies. In fact, it seems to make it exceedingly difficult to form a lawful society by registration. And the Bill states that no society that does not achieve registration is lawful. It gives exceedingly wide powers to an official called the registrar and it gives a very tight control of even such societies as do manage to get registered.

The noble Marquess will doubtless say that there are a number of exemptions from this ordinance—for instance, any commercial company, any company constituted under a Royal Charter, any lodge of Freemasons legally constituted under the Freemasons in the United Kingdom, any trade union registered under the Trade Unions and Trades Disputes Ordinance and any co-operative society. That is all fairly wide: but what about other associations of people for various other purposes? On reading the definitions, it seems as if this was aimed purely at political Parties. The registrar is the sole authority for the registering of societies. He is empowered to cancel registration when one of a number of occurrences comes to his notice. If, for instance, the associated concern is a branch of or affiliated to or active with any organisation or group of a political nature established outside the Colony, does that prevent the National United Party from being affiliated to the Conservative Party in Great Britain or the People's Socialist Party from affiliation with the Labour Party here? If so, why? It almost looks as if the Aden Cricket Club, if they applied for affiliation to the M.C.C., would automatically cancel their registration and become unlawful. Really, the absurdity that this Ordinance can be reduced to is something that in this country we do not know, and I hope is not known in Her Majesty's other Colonies. Perhaps the noble Marquess can tell us whether this follows any precedent in other colonial territories.

I do not want to take up the time of the House longer that is necessary, but I think this Bill needs some explanation. From all we hear, in spite of what the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, has said, Aden is not a conspicuous example of the free world or the Western way of life, when newspapers are banned, people are put in prison for political offences and processions and workers are not allowed to strike. Those are the kind of things that we hear about when they happen in other parts of the world, but they are generally not mentioned here. What we should like to know from the Government is what is the purpose of this Ordinance? Is there a case for taking such exceedingly wide powers against political activity? If there is a reasonable case, why are there not the usual safeguards embodied in the Bill, such as the right of appeal to a judicial body and the ordinary civil rights that we in this country expect and of which we frequently boast we have the monopoly?

4.3 p.m.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, from the general tone of the debate, I think it has been agreed on all sides that the concept of merger is desirable, although, as happened in another place, doubts have been expressed about the timing and about the method. May I briefly deal with the question of timing first? As the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, is well aware, the idea of this measure and negotiations to bring it about have been of long duration. It is the view of those who are intimate with this complicated subject that it is unlikely that the offer of the members of the Federation would remain open indefinitely. It has therefore seemed to Her Majesty's Government that with any delay there might be a grave risk that a measure which we all, I think, accept as being desirable would not be brought about at all. The noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, in common with others, not in this debate in your Lordships' House but in another place and in conversation that I have heard, has spoken about the brutalities—because one can really call them nothing else—of the late Imam of the Yemen. I think the impression may have been given that the Emirs in the Protectorate are also men who are not far removed from this way of life.

LORD OGMORE

May I say—

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

Perhaps the noble Lord will allow me to finish. I do not accuse the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, of having said this, but he did use the expression "absolute rulers". I think there is a degree of misunderstanding here. A good deal of progress has been made by these Emirs to what we should call socialisation. In fact, they are not automatic hereditary rulers, although there are hereditary ruling families; and they are elected by a traditional system which appears to suit them. One cannot say, therefore, that they are absolute feudal lords who have not progressed at all.

The noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, quite rightly, I think, asked me the question: what are we going to do about (he did not use these words, but I think this is what he meant) democratising these Emirs? In the first place, it is not for us to democratise them, although we are perfectly entitled to give them advice. But I should have thought—and I think your Lordships will agree with me about this—that the fact of merging and of the Emirates becoming more closely associated with Aden Colony, which is democratically in advance of them, cannot but have an influence upon them. Fresh air will blow in, and I should have thought it most likely that this will have an influence in the direction which I think the noble Lord and others would wish these Emirates to go.

So far as economic development is concerned, there are, of course, development plans both for the countries of the Federation and for those Protectorates outside of it. The ultimate bulk of the funds so far as the Federation is concerned, come out of Colonial Development and Welfare. There is no reason why the other Emirates, if they so wish, should not apply to join the Federation; it is perfectly open for them to do so. As the noble Earl, Lord Lucan, knows quite well, they have not yet made up their minds, but, as I say, if they wish to join the Federation they are entitled to do so. This is something that we should have to consider, and if they did come in presumably there would be a greater burden on the British Treasury.

The noble Earl, Lord Listowel, returned, as one would naturally expect him to return, to the theme of consultation with the people. I cannot give the noble Earl any other reply than has been given on previous occasions, both here and in another place; that is to say, it is the firm belief of Her Majesty's Government, in the present climate that exists, with intimidation, alas! very pronounced, that a reference to the electorate would not provide a true indication of the wishes of the people. I must also take up the point made by my noble friend Lord Grenfell. A large number of people who are expressing vocal opinions are in fact the Yemenis and not the true Adenis. It was the view taken by my right honourable friend that this is a responsibility which Her Majesty's Government must fairly and squarely shoulder, and this we propose to do.

The noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, and others, referred to Aden as a base, and the desirability or otherwise of stockpiling there. I am afraid it is not within my competence to make a long statement about the opinions of the Chiefs of Staff as to the value of Aden as a base. I can simply say that it is our intention that we should retain this base and, therefore, I think the noble Lord may take it for granted that we believe it to be of great importance. As to the traffic of arms, that, I know, was an accusation that had been made, and I think I am right in saying that it was alleged that arms had been smuggled through, I think, Lahej. We shave had this looked into, and we asked the Republican authorities to supply us with evidence of this. Little evidence, so far as I know, has been supplied, and we have made it perfectly clear that, so far as Her Majesty's Government are concerned, we do not on any account wish foreign involvement—I think this is the point of the noble Lord—in the Yemen.

While we are talking about foreign involvement in the Yemen, I would point out that of course there are two sides to this. From all the information that I have, those who are not Yemeni Adenis are strongly opposed to any form of union with the Yemen, particularly if this means, as appears at the moment, that this would involve Egyptian domination. I thought I would take up that point as the noble Lord raised it. I agree with the noble Earl on the point of the value of a base being very much diminished if one does not have the goodwill of the people round about it. I put it to your Lordships that one of the ways of achieving this goodwill is to give satisfaction to the express desires of the people, the union of the Arabs, the union of the countries immediately surrounding Aden. After all, this is very important to them, as I am sure the noble Earl will agree. By doing this we are surely going to create a climate in which we shall have the friendship of not only the Adenis— who, I firmly believe, as does the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, wish for merger—but also those outside the Colony of Aden. So I feel that on that particular point we are doing exactly what the noble Earl wants. I was glad that the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, saw fit to pay a tribute to His Excellency the Governor—a tribute which I feel is richly deserved—and also a tribute to our troops in Aden.

The noble Earl, Lord Lucan, said that as he had not been to Aden he really had no qualification to speak in this debate. I share this lack of qualification with the noble Earl, although, of course, it is my business to know about Her Majesty's Government's policy in Aden and what is going on there. He will have to forgive me, because for the last few months I have been commuting between London and Borneo, and I am afraid I am not in a position to give him an authoritative reply on the Bill to which he referred. I will, however, make inquiries about this and draw the attention of the Governor—I think that is the correct thing to do—to the observations made by the noble Earl.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, I am sorry I was not able to give the noble Marquess more notice, but, as I explained, I only saw the document myself yesterday.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

I must be fair with the noble Earl. Notice was given. I received it when I was having beer and sandwiches in my office to-day, but I am afraid I did not have an opportunity to look into it.

There is a great deal more business to be transacted in your Lordships' House, and I do not wish to make a long speech on the subject of Aden. I am glad that the noble Lords who have spoken have raised the various points that they have raised. These are always useful, and we will consider them. I am bound to say that it is the view of Her Majesty's Government that no useful purpose would be served in falling in line with the suggestion of the noble Earl, Lord Listowel. He knows as well as I do that, of course, there is a further complication, and that is the question of the franchise. The franchise has been agreed on all sides to be unsatisfactory, and if an election were to be held—as the noble Earl, I know, wishes—the franchise presumably would have to be revised. This would involve a considerable delay and, as I said in my opening remarks to the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, it might well be that through this delay we should in fact lose the opportunity of a merger, Which I think noble Lords in all quarters of this House agree is in the best interests of all those concerned.

THE EARL, OF LISTOWEL

My Lords, I was suggesting that there should be an election at the normal time. As the noble Marquess is aware, the lifetime of the present Legislative Council has been extended. I suggest that there could be an election at the normal time, which I think would be in a couple of months, or even a month, on the present franchise for the present number of seats. That would give some indication of the way in which people are thinking.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, I take the point the noble Earl has made. But I must revert to this very serious risk of intimidation, which is not something we have trumped up. It is a fact, and it is very serious.

4.18 p.m.

LORD OGMORE

My Lords, I should like to thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this debate to-day. There are not very many, but then there never are many noble Lords, unhappily, who take part in Commonwealth or Colonial debates in this House. It is only when some question of the Common Market comes up that we find people in this country rushing in as great Commonwealth supporters and experts. They never seem to appear at other times.

The debate to-day, though it will have no impact whatsoever in this country, will occupy no space in the newspapers and will not be mentioned on television or radio—our debates rarely are—will nevertheless arouse keen interest in Aden. They will take careful note of what the noble Marquess has said. I should like to refer to something the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, said. He made some statements to-day for which I, at least, have found very little evidence. He contradicted me on quite an important issue, and that was the trial of Abdullah al Asnag, Secretary-General of the T.U.C., which I said was now taking place in Aden or, at least, which started on December 7. He said that that was not so; that he was not in gaol and was not being tried. I have found the reference now. It was in The Times, from The Times correspondent, dated December 7, so I think it would appear in The Times of December 8. It was to the effect that Abdullah al Asnag, Secretary-General, together with an officer of the Aden T.U.C., Idris Hanbala and another officer, Abdullah Ali Obaid al Wahti pleaded not guilty to charges of sedition when their trial began before Mr. Enoch Light, chief magistrate of Aden Colony. Ten prosecution witnesses were heard on the opening day. Asnag and Hanbala were arrested on November 8 and Wahti on November 10, and had been refused bail in spite of repeated attempts by their defence counsel, who had also tried to transfer their case to the Supreme Court for trial by jury. I mention that because, of course, the trial of these people is an important element in Aden No one can understand the situation there unless this highly important trial—these men are being tried for sedition—is known about and appreciated.

I did not know that we were going to deal particularly with the troops in Aden, still less with Kuwait; but, as they have been mentioned, I should like to say that of course I and all my noble friends on these Benches fully support all the tributes paid to the troops in Aden, and indeed to the troops in Kuwait. We should not like it to be thought in any way that we were not fully in support of our officers and men wherever they are operating under the orders of their superiors.

I should like to deal very shortly with one or two points made by the noble Marquess. First of all, I hope he realises that I never intended to compare the Amirs in South Arabia with the late Imam of the Yemen. He was an exception, I think, even in the realms of absolute rulers. He was, in fact, a tyrant of the first order; and wonder is not that revolution took place when it did but that it took place as late as it did. The habit he had of cutting people's heads oil after they had revolted may have had something to do with it. The fact is that the Amirs are not in any way tyrants. They are, however, absolute rulers although elected, because very often in feudal society they have elections for the Ruler; but that does not prevent them from being absolute rulers afterwards. It has nothing to do with democracy although they are elected; and there are many cases of that in history and in the world to-day.

The second point is that the noble Marquess referred to the base. When a representative of the main political Party in Aden came to see me in this country I asked him a question particularly on the base. I said, "You realise that this is a most important and naturally proper question for us and for the free world, a base in Aden. What is your attitude and the attitude of your Party to the question of the base?" He said: "We are entirely in favour of your keeping the base. In fact, the last thing in the world we want is for you to go out, because we depend on it to such a large extent in our economic affairs; and, of course, we also regard it as being very important in our own defence. We are quite prepared to enter into any reasonable treaty with you with reference to the base, once we have self-government."

Finally, my Lords, I must admit that I was disappointed that the noble Marquess did not say anything about the economic progress of this area. That is extremely important. I feel that the Government must do far more thinking than obviously they have done on this question. I believe that in any of these places we can not leave poverty and a very dangerous economic situation to continue without great danger not only to us but to them. I realise that the noble Marquess has not had much time lately as he has been concerned very much with Malaysia, but this Motion has been down on the Paper a long time; and it was, in fact, put on the Paper for debate to-day to meet the noble Marquess's convenience. So I hope that at some later time we may hear from him something more on this question of economic development of this area.

We shall study with considerable interest what the noble Marquess has said to-day in his speech, and perhaps, if necessary, we can return to it at a later date. I beg leave to withdraw the Motion standing in my name.

Motion for Papers, withdrawn.