§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will list the names, political affiliations and backgrounds of people from South Africa who have visited the United Kingdom over the past two years on the invitation of or sponsoring or other kinds of arrangement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the COI.
§ Mr. EggarThe only visitors to the United Kingdom from South Africa in the past two years for whom the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had responsibility have been those who have come under the sponsored visitors scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to enable influential personalities from overseas to obtain first hand impressions of British policies and achievements and to discuss contemporary issues with a range of informed British opinion. The scheme is administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is executed by the Central Office of Information, which is responsible for the setting up of the visitors' programmes.
The list of visitors from South Africa under the scheme in the past two years numbers 44. 1 will write to the hon. Member with the list of names.