Mr. Ron Brownasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has taken any recent steps to persuade the Rugby Football Union to reconsider its decision to tour South Africa.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe Rugby Football Union will not decide whether to tour South Africa until 30 March. I have made clear to the RFU, and the House, the Government's opposition to the scheduled tour in the light of our support for the Commonwealth statement on apartheid in sport and our fears for its implications for sport generally, on 7 March, at columns 837–39, on 13 February, at columns 100–108, and on 8 February, at columns 873–75. I shall again be meeting the RFU president shortly.