Page:MALAYSIA BILL RHODESIA AND NYASALAND BILL (2) (Hansard, 11 Juli 1963).djvu/19

 European electorate were dealing in the last Southern Rhodesian elections. The context has changed. The Federation is being brought to an end. Now that they realise that they can continue in economic association with the Northern Territories only by having fundamental changes in their Constitution, there is, I believe, a possibility open to them if it can be grasped.

I suggest that we take the representations which have been made to us by Ghana more seriously than they appear 1527 to be taken by the two hon. Members opposite who have referred to them. I hope that the Attorney-General will give us an indication of the reply which the Government have given to Ghana's representations. I believe that the Ghanaians are right on this point. It would be absolutely fatal for us to transfer to Southern Rhodesia powers which she is now, in the context of 1963, not entitled to have.

I was particularly disturbed to hear the First Secretary talk about the splitting up of the federal forces. If the forces are split up in the way he suggested, that is, according to their dispositions today, most of the Army and almost all the Air Force will go to Southern Rhodesia. This would be very unfortunate. I believe that it would be better for Her Majesty's Government to remain responsible for the federal defence forces. Even now, even during the federal period, they have an overriding authority and those forces could not be used in the Northern Territories without the say-so of Her Majesty's Government here, and, even as regards Southern Rhodesia, if we had decided to suspend the constitution, the forces there would have had to accept our direction. It would be a retrograde step for most of these forces to be transferred to Southern Rhodesia and on this particular point I believe that Ghana is absolutely right.

In the Note sent to the British Government on 4th July, Ghana said that there was a moral responsibility placed upon us to see that no transfer of responsibility took place until suitable safeguards were assured. The Note refers to the unanimous resolutions of the Addis Ababa conference which, I remind the First Secretary, represented not the extremist countries but all of them, Nigeria as well as Ghana, Tanganyika as well as Uganda. All of them were there and all subscribed to the resolutions.

Mr. Farr In view of the rather doubtful political structure in Ghana at present, does the hon. Gentleman think it really suitable to quote to us the moral opinions of that Government?

Mr. Stonehouse I do not accept that at all. The last election held in Ghana was supervised by civil servants from this country and produced a greater vote, 1528 as a proportion of those voting, for Dr. Nkrumah than the Conservative Party has to justify its position of power in Britain. Anyway, we are not concerned with that argument. We are concerned with what all the African countries said at the Addis Ababa conference. Whether the hon. Member for Harborough likes it or not, we cannot disregard the opinions of all these countries. They represent quite a lot. We cannot disregard the United Nations which, in resolution after resolution, has called upon Britain to take steps to introduce democratic self-rule in Southern Rhodesia. The resolution of 28th June, 1962, deplored the"denial of political rights" and liberties to the vast majority of people in Southern Rhodesia. That of 12th October, 1962, called "upon the Government of the United Kingdom to take steps to see that there was an immediate lifting of the ban on the Zimbabwe African People's Union" and called upon "Her Majesty's Government to inform the General Assembly of its implementation of the resolution which the United Nations had passed." The resolution of 31st October, 1962, noted "with deep regret that the administering Power"—" that is, the United Kingdom— "has not taken steps to carry out the request" of the United Nations on past occasions and went on to call for "The immediate extension to the whole population, without discrimination, of the full and unconditional exercise of their basic political rights, in particular the right to vote, and the establishment of equality among all inhabitants of the Territory." The hon. Member for Harborough and the Conservative Party cannot disregard what was said at the Addis Ababa Conference, nor what the United Nations has proclaimed in resolution after resolution. They should take this into account with regard to Southern Rhodesia and not only not take steps to transfer greater responsibility to Southern Rhodesia—certainly they should not transfer independence to it—but should take positive steps to persuade Southern Rhodesia to change its Constitution and move towards a more democratic one.