Page:MALAYSIA BILL RHODESIA AND NYASALAND BILL (2) (Hansard, 11 Juli 1963).djvu/23

 Government of that country in due course but leave control in white hands. Secondly, the party will be facing another crisis when deciding whether the Government should veto or not the expulsion of South Africa from the United Nations which would enevitably be followed by economic sanctions against the South African Government.

I turn in the last few minutes to Northern Rhodesia to raise an important matter which has not been raised hitherto except in an interjection by me earlier on. I ask my right hon. Friend very carefully to consider the problem of Barotseland. There may be a feeling that the present system under the Litunga is archaic, but if it was felt that it must be changed, and the Litunga was given, say, two years to make changes, I could understand it. That has not been done. I have not time to quote some of the speeches made by the Resident Commissioner on this subject, but only last year pressure was brought to bear on the Litunga and his Council to participate in the Northern Rhodesian general election. Against his judgment he was persuaded to do so, with the inevitable result that the party with an organisation and money won and Barotseland was represented by members of U.N.I.P. in the Northern Rhodesia Legislature.

Now I understand that there is pressure on the Litunga to have elections this month for the Barotse National Council at the same time as he is supposed to be coming here to discuss the future of his country with Her Majesty's Government. I hope that we shall play fair. It may well be that the system of administration of Barotseland cannot continue as it is today, but I hope that we will play fair with the Litunga and give him perhaps a better deal than we were able to give the Indian Princes. He deserves it. He is paying for having too much faith in Queen Victoria and in his belief that her spirit still exists over here.

I want to say something about Nyasaland. There have been various reports referred to. Today there is a report that Mr. Nash has been attacked personally in a speech by a leading member of the Malawi Party. I hope that my right hon. Friend will look at that. Mr. Nash is the leader of the European Residents' Association. He is doing his job of representing their views. It would be appalling if he had to suffer because he was doing a job he was elected to do. I hope that my right hon. Friend will make it his personal business to see that Mr. Nash receives protection, if this should be necessary.

We all want to keep these three territories together as far as is possible. I hope that we shall be able to do so. But I doubt it. I fear that this Bill may lead to a division of race along the Zambesi. If that is so it presents a terrible threat to the whole world, and not only to Central Africa. It may perhaps be traced to our lack of courage in supporting the Federation and our failure to see that this multi-racial experiment was carried through to success.

9.17 p.m.

Mr. G. M. Thomson (Dundee, East) The hon. Member for Haltemprice (Mr. Wall) said that history would show whether he or my hon. Friend the Member for Wednesbury (Mr. Stonehouse) was right about the long-term future of Kenya. Certainly, it would be dangerous to be dogmatic about what the future holds for Kenya or, indeed, any part of Africa. I say now only that history has tonight shown to the hon. Member, who takes such an interest in these matters, that he and many of his hon. Friends were tremendously wrong when, 10 years ago, they insisted on pushing through federation and imposing it on the people of Central Africa.

There have been many disagreements during this extremely good debate. As is characteristic of such debates, those disagreements have not always run along conventional party lines. On one thing, however, there has been unanimity—on warm congratulations to the right hon. Gentleman the First Secretary of State for his success at the Victoria Falls Conference, which is recorded in the White Paper and the Bill, and which, of course, we accept.

The right hon. Gentleman did remarkably—indeed, miraculously—well to bring together these very disputatious parties and get them to agree to this document. I hope that he will understand that I am not detracting from his diplomatic skill in this matter when I say that it is important to remember exactly what the nature of his success has been and what the limits of it are.