§ 3.53 p.m.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS AND FOR THE COLONIES (THE MARQUESS OF LANDSOWNE)My Lords, with the permission of the House I will repeat a Statement on Malta in my right honourable friend's own words:
"I have this morning completed the long negotiations with the Government 564 of Malta on the question of independence.
"As a result, we have now settled the form of Malta's future Constitution, which will be on the lines proposed by the Government of Malta with certain important amendments which have been agreed.
"The Government of Malta have expressed the desire that Malta should remain a monarchy with Her Majesty as Queen; and they have informed me of their intention to seek membership of the Commonwealth.
"We have also this morning initialled agreements on defence and financial aid which are to be signed on independence.
"The Defence Agreement will enable British forces to remain in Malta for ten years. Under the Finance Agreement, Britain will, during the same period, provide capital aid for the development and diversification of the economy and assistance for emigration, up to a total of about £50 million.
"The text of the new Constitution is being published to-day as a White Paper; and a limited number of advance copies of the two agreements are available in the Vote Office.
"Despite the small amount of Parliamentary time which remains, I hope the House will feel disposed to pass the necessary Independence Bill before the Recess. I realise that this is asking a lot of honourable Members. But, as they know, Malta's independence has already had to be postponed beyond the target date of May 31. It is therefore most desirable not to delay it further any longer than is necessary."
That was my right honourable friend's Statement. I would only add that a limited number of advance copies of the Defence and Finance Agreements are also available in the Printed Paper Office and that I hope that your Lordships' House will also feel disposed to pass the necessary legislation before the Recess.
§ EARL ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I am obliged to the noble Marquess for the Statement on behalf of his right honourable friend, 565 and, taking the Statement as a whole, we welcome it. We have already promised, I think, through the higher usual channels, that we will do what we can to facilitate the passage of this Bill into law, although the Government have left it very late in the Session, with only about seven or eight days of Parliamentary time left for that to be done. When we get the Bill and come to our short discussion on it there may be one or two matters on which we should like to make comments; but generally we welcome the Bill and, particularly, that some agreement for defence has been come to—though that will have to be examined. But it sounds to me to be very encouraging and welcome. As to assistance in the matter, there does not seem to be much we can quarrel with. We should like to see the agreements now placed in the Printed Paper Office as well as the Vote Office and study them. We will then help the Government to make what progress we can with the Bill.
LORD REAMy Lords, although we have not seen the relevant documents we can gather from the Statement the noble Marquess has made that this is a good conclusion to a rather long-drawn-out process: and we give our best wishes to this country in its new guise. May I ask whether Malta is still going to have a Governor-General, and, if so, will that official be British or Maltese? Secondly, as Malta is going to continue to be a monarchy, will Her Majesty assume the title of Queen of Malta as well as her other titles?
§ THE EARL OF LISTOWELMy Lords, before the noble Marquess answers those questions may I put one other? We are all delighted that this agreement has been reached between Her Majesty's Government and the Government of Malta about the new Constitution for Malta, but may I ask the noble Marquess whether, as is usual in the case of an independence Constitution for a British Colony, both the Government Party and the Opposition have been consulted in framing the terms of the Constitution?
§ LORD COLYTONMy Lords, as this is a Statement, may I be permitted to add my congratulations to my right honourable friend in another place and also to the Prime Minister of Malta on the 566 conclusion of this most important agreement? May I also say to my noble friend Lord Lansdowne how grateful we are to him for his part in this arduous business of many weeks' hard work, most intricate questions and great difficulties which have now been resolved? If I might be permitted, I should also like to add my appreciation of the statement by the noble Earl opposite that Her Majesty's Opposition will facilitate the passage of the Bill through the present Parliament.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble Earl who leads the Opposition and also the noble Lord, Lord Rea, the noble Lord, Lord Colyton, and the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, for the unqualified welcome they have given to my right honourable friend's statement. It is true that we have brought the Bill to your Lordships' House and to Parliament late in the day, but it was indeed a very complex negotiation, not through any lack of good will on either side, but because the problem itself was of a complicated nature.
In reply to the question put to me by the noble Lord, Lord Rea, I think that in repeating the statement of my right honourable friend I said that the Queen would be Queen of Malta. It is the wish of the Maltese that Malta should remain a Monarchy, with our Queen as Queen, and should remain within the Commonwealth; and from that would flow the natural consequences, which I am sure the noble Lord appreciates.
In reply to the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, I think that he is himself aware of the position and perhaps has put this question to me so that I should inform your Lordships' House. We have all along done our utmost to consult with the other Parties and the views of all Parties were obtained at the Conference last year. They were set out in detail in the published report. Since then my right honourable friend has had two further series of consultations with the Maltese political leaders, both last December and again this year. After months of fruitless discussion, it became clear that the Maltese Parties were never likely to reach agreement among themselves. However, the new Constitution, with the important amendments that have been made, represents, in our 567 view, a fair and reasonable compromise.
I would thank my noble friend Lord Colyton for his welcome of this Bill, and I would endorse what he said to noble Lords opposite, that we hope they are going to do all they can to facilitate the passage of this Bill. Of course, there will be points that will require discussion and I hope that, if questions are addressed to me, I shall be able to give the answers.