HC Deb 30 November 1971 vol 827 c74W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the recent negotiations with the Smith régime in Rhodesia.

Mr. Kershaw

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend made to the House on 25th November and to the White Paper published on the following day.—[Vol. 826, c. 1536–40.]

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in the course of his discussions in Salisbury, the question of Rhodesia's outstanding external indebtedness was raised.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

I made it clear to Mr. Smith that we would regard an acknowledgment of liability for their outstanding external debt as a prerequisite of the financial negotiations which would need to follow a political settlement and I obtained a satisfactory assurance on this point.