§ Lord Wakefield of Kendalasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will encourage visits to South Africa of racially mixed sporting teams to play against racially mixed teams of South African residents; and if not, whether they will state their reasons for not doing so.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)No. As the noble Lord, Lord Wakefield, is aware, the Government are committed as a member of the Commonwealth to the Commonwealth Statement on Apartheid in Sport. This does not allow any distinction between teams on the basis of their racial composition. Changes in the statement and thus in Government policy can only be agreed within the Commonwealth, by Commonwealth Heads of Government.