HL Deb 05 May 1982 vol 429 cc1160-1

2.55 p.m.

Lord Orr-Ewing

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 eight of the 11 Motions which have been moved in various international sports bodies during the years 1966 to 1980 to prevent South Africa taking part in international sport were moved by the Soviet Union or Soviet bloc states.

Lord Belstead

My Lords, I regret that the information requested by my noble friend is not available. The international sports federations are independent. Indeed, we are committed to doing what we can to uphold their autonomy. Our knowledge of what resolutions have been passed, and of the details, is therefore necessarily incomplete.

Lord Orr-Ewing

My Lords, do not these facts, which appeared in The Times on 19th April, show clearly that the Soviet Union is using these well-meaning sporting bodies to propagate its own strategic plans to disrupt relationships within the free world?

Lord Belstead

My Lords, I would hold no brief for Russian motives in pursuing their policy. For ourselves, we adhere to the provisions of the Gleneagles Agreement.

Lord Molloy

My Lords, does the noble Lord agree —and this is a vital, important question to Government and Parliament alike—that we all know what goes on in the Soviet Union, in Poland, and in South Africa? In the Government's view, is South Africa regarded as a free country?

Lord Belstead

My Lords, I repeat that so far as sporting contacts are concerned—which are the subject of the Question of my noble friend Lord Orr-Ewing—we adhere to the provisions of the Gleneagles Agreement, which requires us to take every practical step to discourage sporting contacts with South Africa, because South Africa is the only country where racial discrimination is institutionalised by law.

Lord Wynne-Jones

My Lords, can the noble Lord tell the House which country tried to prevent participation in the Moscow Olympic Games?

Lord Belstead

My Lords, the position of Her Majesty's Government is I think relevant to the supplementary question of the noble Lord, Lord Wynne-Jones. In the special circumstances of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan two years ago, we advised sportsmen and sporting bodies not to participate in the Moscow Olympics.

Lord Paget of Northampton

My Lords, can the noble Lord tell us whether there are any Jews to be found in the Russian sports teams?

Lord Belstead

That is a question that I cannot answer, my Lords.

Lord Elwyn-Jones

Does anti-semitism in the Soviet Union justify apartheid in South Africa?

Lord Belstead

My Lords, on behalf of the Government, I deplore both policies.