§ 3.20 p.m.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals have been put forward for the dispatch of a so-called "goodwill mission" from Ghana to British Guiana.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS AND FOR THE COLONIES (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)My Lords, the Government of Ghana have informed our High Commissioner in Accra that, with the agreement of Doctor Jagan and Mr. Burnham, an unofficial mission is planning to visit British Guiana shortly.
The members of the mission are Professor Abraham of the University of Ghana; Doctor Makonnen, director of the African Affairs Centre; Mr. Morris and Mr. Lomotey. I understand the purpose of the visit is to try to help Doctor Jagan and Mr. Burnham to resolve their differences.
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, is it not really the most extraordinary thing to suggest sending a mission from a one-man, one-Party dictatorship, which has just abandoned the rule of law, out to another Commonwealth territory which has been lying under the menace of Communism for some years and where a most highly delicate constitutional experiment is now being worked out with a view to independence? Will not Her Majesty's Government now step in to cancel this extraordinary proposal, which seems to me the height of folly?
THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIREUnder the present Constitution of British Guiana immigration into British Guiana is a matter for local Ministers.