§ Mr. Georgeasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy on sporting contacts with South Africa, in the light of the plans by a number of British rugby clubs to play in South Africa in the summer.
§ Mr. Denis HowellI have been asked to reply.
I understand that three English and three Welsh club teams are planning to 822W visit South Africa this summer at the expense of their South African hosts, and I am also aware that individuals from a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, have been invited to play there at the end of this month. I need hardly say that this causes the Government considerable concern. We have consistently condemned apartheid in sport as in other spheres. Our repugnance is shared by all the Commonwealth countries and finds expression in the Gleneagles agreement of June 1977. In addition, COE Sports Ministers meeting in London in April 1978 unanimously adopted a resolution emphasising their similar opposition to racial and other forms of discrimination, and emphasised the responsibility of national and international sports bodies in upholding this principle in their own sports. Governing bodies of sport are fully aware of the contents of the agreements, and the proposed rugby tours of South Africa would be in direct contravention of these collective agreements. Therefore, these tours are very much to be regretted.
Ministers have consequently had meetings with representatives of the English and Welsh rugby unions to emphasise the concern of the Government, and the teams involved have been separately reminded of these policies by their respective unions. The two rugby unions have also been informed in writing of the possible repercussions to sport which could well go beyond the world of rugby, and I know that as governing bodies they accept the Gleneagles agreement and have ensured that it has been brought to the attention of the clubs concerned.
Of course all our governing bodies of Sport are independent, which means that they must also accept the responsibilities which go with independence. The majority of them recognise this, and I know that all of them disapprove of racial discrimination within their sport. This is a prime factor in our general success in carrying out the spirit of the Commonwealth agreement. But the fact is that the progress achieved by South African sports bodies is quite insufficient to outweigh the fundamental objections to such tours and the danger which certainly exists that clubs taking part will be used to justify an objectionable system.