§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Prime Minister if she has sent birthday greetings to Mr. Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterOn 15 July my right hon. and learned Friend, the Foreign Secretary, issued a statement on behalf of the Government which read as follows
Mr. Nelson Mandela has now spent 26 years in prison. The British Government have long called for his immediate and unconditional release, and indeed the release of all political prisoners. On the eve of Mr. Mandela's 70th birthday, we renew that call.The release of Mr. Mandela is crucial to the prospects for peaceful change within South Africa. It would be an important gesture of reconciliation by the South African Government and would help to create a climate of confidence in which dialogue across the racial divide on South Africa's future would become possible in the context of a suspension of violence on all sides.