HL Deb 15 May 1980 vol 409 cc361-2

3.10 p.m.

Earl FORTESCUE

My 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 whether they have decided to award a special medal to members of the monitoring force in Rhodesia in recognition of the tasks they carried out both before and after the recent elections.

The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of DEFENCE (Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal)

My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that the possibility of an award for service in Southern Rhodesia is under very serious consideration.

Earl FORTESCUE

My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that reply, may I ask whether he agrees that the monitoring force made a major contribution towards the great success achieved by the Leader of the House in his capacity as Governor?

Lord STRATHCONA and MOUNT ROYAL

My Lords, in the presence of the Leader of the House, I am, of course, happy to confirm what my noble friend has said. One cannot pay too high an honour to both the Leader and to the force which backed him up. However, lest it be thought that the Government are taking refuge in some kind of bureaucratic "bumbledom" in delaying this matter, I point out to my noble friend that it is a little more complicated than it first sounds. In the first place, it is not solely a matter for the Ministry of Defence. For example, the question arises as to whether civilians—and I can think of one civilian in particular who might be eligible—should be eligible and whether members of the Commonwealth should be eligible, and if they were, of course, the consultations would have to go quite wide.