§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration has been given to the proposal by Colonel Ojukwu that a Britisher should go to Nigeria to explore the conditions for a settlement of the civil war.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS (LORD SHEPHERD)My Lords, I understand that in a letter to certain Members of both Houses of Parliament Colonel Ojukwu suggested that what was needed was
a fairminded man prepared to go to both sides and listen to both argumentsand then report back to Parliament. Her Majesty's Government have themselves received no similar communication; they still believe that the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr. Arnold Smith, is particularly well placed to help the Nigerians reach a solution of their 1180 problems. Mr. Arnold Smith is in touch with both sides and his fairmindedness is not open to question. We continue to give him our full support.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, while endorsing everything the Minister has said about Mr. Arnold Smith and the efforts he is making, may I ask whether, if it is not possible to send a Britisher for this purpose, Her Majesty's Government could suggest to Mr. Arnold Smith that someone else might be found from the Commonwealth—perhaps from an African country—who would try to bring this terrible war to an end?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I fully share—and I am sure noble Lords on all sides share—the noble Lord's concern for bringing this bloody war to an end. I do not think there is any doubt that Mr. Arnold Smith in the Commonwealth Secretariat is well placed, perhaps better placed than any person I can think of, for bringing the two sides together at a peace table. I should have thought that in the circumstances it would be far better that we should leave this matter in his capable hands, rather than send someone else, because someone else would still need to be accepted by both sides. It would be far better to put our trust in Mr. Arnold Smith and not run the risk of crossing the wires.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I should like to repeat that I have tremendous confidence in Mr. Arnold Smith in connection with this matter and with all that he is doing, but Her Majesty's Government is part of the Commonwealth and is associated with the Commonwealth Secretariat. Is it not therefore desirable that Her Majesty's Government should not merely accept what Mr. Arnold Smith is doing, but should encourage him by making suggestions of this kind? Is he aware, for example, that for the first time the International Catholic organisation and the World Council of Churches have both urged intervention to bring this terrible war to an end, and will Her Majesty's Government give the fullest support to all the efforts that are being made?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I have said on a number of occasions that we will give all support to any possibility, from wherever it may come, to bring 1181 this bloody war to an end. I think we must accept that while we are part of the Commonwealth we are not the Commonwealth—the Commonwealth has changed very considerably from what it was in the early days after the war. Nigeria is an independent country and therefore we have no special standing in this matter. I believe that it would be better to leave this to Mr. Arnold Smith. But I will say this to my noble friend: if either party in the conflict in Nigeria were to write to Her Majesty's Government with proposals by which it would be possible to bring both parties to the table, we should be most ready to see that such a communication was not only considered but passed on in the hope that it would bring both sides to the conference table.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, I am grateful for that suggestion.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord what methods of communication we have at this moment with Colonel Ojukwu?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, will be aware that we have unfortunately, and through no fault of ours, no direct communication through our own officials with those in Biafra, although of course we are in close contact with the Government of Nigeria. As the noble Lord knows and I believe other noble Lords will be aware, there are a number of people in London who claim to have some connection with the Biafra Government. To what extent they are official connections or express what is the genuine wish of the Biafra Government it is difficult to discover.
§ THE EARL OF CORK AND ORRERYMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is prepared to use his great influence in order to discourage the use of the deplorable American word "Britisher"?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I fail to see how that arises from this Question.
§ BARONESS LLEWELYN-DAVIES OF HASTOEMy Lords, would not my noble friend agree that one of the best contributions Her Majesty's Government could make for peace would be to cease selling arms to either of the sides involved?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, my noble friend must be aware that this matter has been raised on a number of occasions and I cannot add to what I have said in answer to previous questions. There is a legal Government in Nigeria and we are under a moral commitment to support the legal Government of Nigeria. We have limited our sale of arms to those arms which they bought under more peaceful conditions. But I do not believe that to take a unilateral action with regard to one side in the conflict, particularly that of the legal Government, would bring peace any nearer, because arms could be bought front anywhere. What really matters is bringing both sides to the conference table.
§ BARONESS LLEWELYN-DAVIES OF HASTOEMy Lords, I agree with the last part of what my noble friend said. Is he aware that the argument that other people will supply arms if we do not is equally applicable to the statement that was made about South African arms?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, this is a very wide question, but I say to my noble friend that it is one to which we have given the deepest consideration. We feel that since there is a legal Government in Nigeria, a country within the Commonwealth, there is an obligation on us to support it in terms of its military purchases. But that does not mean that we take a one-sided view. We are determined to do all we possibly can to bring both sides to the conference table.
LORD ST. OSWALDMy Lords, I do not wish to be in conflict in any way with the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, on this matter. May I draw his attention to the phrase he used, that we have no special standing in this matter? Impeccable as that phrase is, it could in fact be falsely interpreted, and although we have no special power of seniority in the Commonwealth the fact of our being the Mother Country may mean that other countries look to us for guidance and I am sure that he would be the last to wish that we reject that suggest on.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, all I can say to the noble Lord is that I think he should look at what I said in reply in the context of the question that my noble friend put to me. We do have a 1183 special position within the Commonwealth to one extent, but we are not the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is of all independent countries, and that is the point that I was seeking to make to my noble friend.
§ LORD MILVERTONMy Lords, if I may return to the Question on the Order Paper, I do not wish in any way to disagree with what the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, has said—in fact I agree with it. But is not the most important thing in relation to this Question that it would be a vital mistake to select the wrong sort of Britisher to go to look into a question like this? If we go outside the suggestions of the noble Lord, Lord Shepherd, is there not a serious danger of somebody being sent whose dogmatic misconceptions of the situation and lack of knowledge of the atmosphere would from the start unfit him to give a suitable decision?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the noble Lord may himself have disquiet as to who might be sent, if it was decided that a Britisher should be sent. I took exception to that word but I gather that it was the word which was in the communiqué We believe, I reiterate, that Mr. Arnold Smith, who is well recognised by both sides for his fairmindedness, is the best means we have of bringing both sides to the conference table.