UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA (WITHDRAWAL FROM COMMONWEALTH)

§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

Last week, I announced to the House the decision of the Prime Minister of South Africa to withdraw the application of the South African Government to remain in the Commonwealth after that country becomes a republic on 31st May. I described this decision as unavoidable in the circumstances. Although the House is well acquainted with the general background, I think that it would be as well for me to say a few words about the developments which have led South Africa to withdraw from the family of nations forming the Commonwealth.

Hon. Members will recall that last year the representative of South Africa informed the Prime Ministers' Conference that his Government intended to hold a referendum on the proposal that South Africa should become a republic. At that meeting the Commonwealth Prime Ministers were asked to give their agreement in advance to the continued membership of a republican South Africa in the Commonwealth.

The Prime Ministers felt unwilling at that time to agree. They were influenced by two considerations. First, such a decision might have been construed as an attempt to influence the referendum and therefore as an interference in a matter which was clearly one for the people of South Africa alone. Secondly, the precedents showed that although it was not necessary to withhold approval until all the constitutional processes had been completed, it was not proper to give approval before the decision to make a constitutional change of this kind was beyond all doubt. South Africa was accordingly invited to delay the application for renewed membership until after the referendum. That was last year.

The referendum was held in October, 1960. As the House knows, the result was in favour of a republic. The necessary legislation in South Africa has been introduced, and the intention is to 442 declare the republic at the end of May this year. Accordingly, when the Prime Minister of South Africa brought this question to the Conference this month there was no longer any reason to delay a decision.

The application which he put forward was for South Africa to stay in the Commonwealth as a republic. If it had been possible to deal with the application as a purely constitutional matter, there need have been no difficulty. For the great decision of principle as to whether the Commonwealth should continue to rest on allegiance to the Crown or whether republican States might be members was in fact settled in 1949.

In that year India became a republic but remained a member of the Commonwealth, accepting the Sovereign as head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of our unity. Since then Pakistan and Ghana have become republics within the Commonwealth, and Ceylon has been given an assurance that she will continue to be welcome as a republican member, although she is in fact still a monarchy.

It was clear that the Commonwealth Prime Ministers as a whole did not feel themselves able to treat the continued membership of South Africa as a purely formal or procedural question. In view of the strong feelings on the racial policies pursued by the Government of South Africa, the discussion could not be narrowed to the constitutional point. Because of the wide implications of South Africa's racial policies for other members of the Commonwealth and their effect on world opinion, this matter could not be dealt with on the basis of the constitutional change alone.

Dr. Verwoerd himself recognised this. Although it is an established convention of these meetings that we do not discuss the domestic affairs of a member country without the consent of that country, the Prime Minister of South Africa agreed that on this occasion the racial policy of the Union Government should be discussed. In this I am sure he was right, for this question had become, as I say, more than a matter of domestic interest to South Africa. It had aroused widespread international interest and concern. It affected in various ways the relations between South Africa and other members of the Commonwealth. It was even threatening to damage the concept of the 443 Commonwealth itself as a multi-racial association. In all those circumstances it was impossible to overlook the racial issue. In fact, as the House knows, it became the dominant issue, and the purely constitutional point was overshadowed.

May I say in passing that I do not at all accept the view, which I have seen expressed in the last few days, that this means that the Commonwealth will in future turn itself into a body for passing judgment on the internal affairs of member countries. I see no reason why the existing convention to which I have referred should not be maintained. After all, it was not broken on this occasion, for the Prime Minister of South Africa agreed that this discussion should be held. There were, as I have indicated, good reasons why it should have been held on this occasion—because of the grave external effects of the policy to which I have drawn attention.

I had at this Conference two functions, inevitable in the circumstances, where by tradition the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is invited to preside over these meetings. First, as Chairman it was my duty to guide the discussion and try to lead it to the decision most helpful to growing co-operation within the Commonwealth. It was also my duty to present the view of the British Government and, I hope, of the British people.

I have never concealed, nor do I wish now to conceal, from the House or the country that in my view there were very good arguments for taking the course of allowing the application of South Africa on constitutional grounds, but at the same time expressing the strongest disapproval of her racial policies. I know that many hon. Members, and many people in the country, took a different view, but I will give my reasons frankly. No one in this House approves, indeed we all deplore, the principle which underlies the policy which is generally known as apartheid. That is not because many of us are unaware of our own failings or are anxious to throw the first stone. Hardly any country at some time in its history, nor even at the present time, can stand blameless.

All kinds of discrimination—not only racial, but political, religious and cul- 444 tural—in one form or another have been and are still practised, often as a survival of long tradition. But the fundamental difference between ours and the South African philosophy is that we are trying to escape from these inherited practices. We are trying, with varying degrees of success but always with a single purpose, to move away from this concept in any form. What shocked the Conference was that the policy of the present South African Government appeared to set up what we would regard as an unhappy practice, inherited from the past, perhaps, as a philosophy of action for the future. This philosophy seemed altogether remote from and, indeed, abhorrent to the ideals towards which mankind is struggling in this century, in the free world at any rate, and perhaps—who knows—sooner or later behind the Iron Curtain.

It was not, therefore, because all of us are without sin that we felt so strongly. It was because this apartheid theory transposes what we regard as a wrong into a right. I do not question the sincerity with which these views are held by many people in South Africa, or their very deep conviction that theirs is the right course in the interests of all races, but we in Britain have never been in doubt that this is a wrong course.

A year ago, in Capetown, I tried to express—I hope courteously, but quite firmly—what was the British view, and I do not think that many people in this House dissented from what I then said. All this accentuation and systemisation of the policy of apartheid is something very new. I am not saying that there was no discrimination in the days of the great South African leaders like Smuts and Botha, but those men had in their minds an inspiring vision, and had the intention and purpose of moving gradually towards it. I still believe that as the years go by this ideal will grow in strength in South Africa.

Is it then right—I asked myself—to cut South Africa away from the Commonwealth? Our two countries have links forged in history. We have known what it means to fight against each other. We have also known what it means to fight side by side in defence of freedom in two world wars. There are the close connections of our own countrymen, hundreds of thousands of 445 whom will deeply regret the severance of the Commonwealth ties. But, apart from all these strong considerations of sentiment, I was not satisfied that the exclusion of South Africa from the Commonwealth would best help all those European people who do not accept the doctrine of apartheid, and the growing body whose opinions are in flux. Nor, as far as I could see, would it help the millions of Africans.

Moreover, it seemed to me that there was a danger of falling into a somewhat Pharisaical attitude in this. In my view—and I am not ashamed to say so—it was better to hold out our hands and help than to avert our eyes and pass by on the other side. It is not my intention, nor do I think it would be proper for me, to give an account of the discussions which took place at the Conference. Those discussions are confidential, and all Prime Ministers should try to preserve, in respect of them, the traditional confidence of a national Cabinet. However, the communiqué which we published—and it was published with the agreement of all concerned, including the Prime Minister of South Africa—made quite clear what happened, and I have very little to add.

But I am convinced—and I must say this—that had Dr. Verwoerd shown the smallest move towards an understanding of the views of his Commonwealth colleagues, or made any concession, had he given us anything to hold on to or any grounds for hope, I still think that the Conference would have looked beyond the immediate difficulties to the possibilities of the future. For, after all, our Commonwealth is not a treaty-made league of Governments; it is an association of peoples.

But the Prime Minister of South Africa, with an honesty which one must recognise, made it abundantly clear beyond all doubt that he would not think it right to relax in any form the extreme rigidity of his dogma, either now or in the future. And it is a dogma. To us it is strange, but it is a dogma which is held with all the force of one of those old dogmas which men fought and struggled for in the past.

Our discussions were held in an atmosphere of great courtesy, dignity and calm, but that made the underlying tension all the more real There was no 446 question of the expulsion of South Africa, for it became apparent to Dr. Verwoerd himself that he could not serve the Commonwealth or help its unity and coherence in any other way except by withdrawing his application. This he did, and so, for the time being, ended over half a century of South Africa's membership of our Commonwealth.

Nevertheless, I do not feel that we should regard this as the end of the story. We shall always have a special feeling for the people of South Africa, of all races. We shall watch with a continuing interest their development, and I still think that the more we are able to maintain personal and individual contacts with our friends there the greater our influence will prove to be.

But at the end of the day I do not believe that it will be words which will win—certainly not bitter words and recrimination. What might well influence the people of South Africa most is the proof that those of us who extol the virtues of partnership between the races are able to translate our theories into facts, to establish on African soil a practical example of a non-racial society that works to the benefit of all its peoples. Today we have such a chance in Central Africa, and I pray that we and those of every party and race in these territories will seize it while time yet remains.

I do not for a moment under-estimate the difficulties or the magnitude of the political problems which stand in the way. Of course there are differences, both of view and, above all, of emphasis, especially about the pace of advance, but I believe that we are all agreed on our objective. In that spirit let us move towards it. In that way I think that we can best help South Africa.

Last Thursday I undertook to say a word or two about some of the practical problems which will arise as a result of this decision. I am sure the House will understand that although these are being carefully studied by the Departments concerned I am not yet in a position to do more than speak in very general terms. The questions fall into different categories of varying importance. Even if South Africa had remained in the Commonwealth, the change from a monarchy to a republic would have required consequential legislation in our Parliament. But this would have been 447 comparatively simple, and would have followed precedent.

We have now to consider the other results, and these matters cannot be settled without a good deal of thought on each side, or without negotiations with the South African Government. It will probably be most convenient to introduce a Bill to make temporary provision for the period immediately following 31st May. The purpose of such a Bill will be to maintain the operation of the existing law for a specified, limited period both in the United Kingdom and British dependent territories. This will give us an interval during which both Governments can consider the important questions which have to be dealt with.

First, there is the question of nationality or citizenship. This is a deeply personal matter causing, no doubt, anxiety to many South Africans, both those living in South Africa and especially those of British descent and those very many South Africans living and working outside the Union. We must look carefully into this and make no hurried decisions.

Then there are certain trade and financial matters which we must consider. As regards the sterling area, the Prime Minister of South Africa has already said that his country would wish to remain a member. No legislation is needed in this connection. As the House well knows, there are a number of countries outside the Commonwealth who are already members of the sterling area. These include not merely countries like Burma, which were formerly part of the old British Empire, but also countries like Iceland, Jordan and Libya.

Then there is the question of preferential arrangements which affect trade both ways. These, as my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Board of Trade, said in the House yesterday, are governed by the bilateral agreement concluded after the Ottawa Conference in 1932 and will be unaffected by South Africa's changed status. I am informed that the maintenance of these preferential arrangements is not affected by our obligations under G.A.T.T. There are other fields where we have co-operated with successive South African Governments and, if both our countries 448 regard it as mutually advantageous and if it is found to be compatible with South Africa's non-membership of the Commonwealth, I have no doubt that this co-operation can and will continue.

I am sorry I cannot give more precise information to the House at this stage. Meanwhile, I repeat that I am sure the best course is to introduce a standstill Bill to give us time to sort these matters out in negotiation between the two Governments.

In quite another class are our rights and duties towards the three High Commission Territories. The right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition asked me a Question on Thursday to which I think I made a quite categorical reply. These territories remain in the same relationship with us as before and we shall continue to accept and discharge our obligations and responsibilities in accordance with undertakings which have been many times repeated by many of my predecessors. We must, of course, also recognise that they have common borders and close economic ties with the Union of South Africa, and no doubt there will be many practical questions concerning the High Commission Territories which we shall have to continue to discuss with the Union Government. There are many such questions—postal arrangements, railway arrangements, and many things of that kind.

I do not wish to detain the House except perhaps to allow me to add a few general reflections. There are some who think that the Commonwealth will be gravely and even fatally injured by this blow. I do not altogether share this view. I do not share it at all. After all, in the years since the war, the whole concept of the Commonwealth has radically changed. In the past it was four or five countries populated by people of, broadly, British descent linked together by their common allegiance as subjects of the Crown. From 1949 onwards it has become more and more a group of countries associated historically with this island, developed, strengthened, brought to their independence by a long and not inglorious effort of ordinary British men and women—missionaries, traders, doctors and administrators—countries which with these recollections of the past have decided to go forward together and face the perils 449 of the future. This association must depend not on the old concept of a common allegiance but upon the new principle of a common idealism.

The note on which I would wish to close is simply this. Whatever one's view, this is a very sad event; sad because of what seems to us a tragically misguided and perverse philosophy which lies at the root of apartheid; sad because of the many people in South Africa who, I am certain, would like it at least tempered and made more elastic and more humane; sad because this event marks the end of an association of our countrymen for over a hundred years with colonies formed in Capetown, Natal and elsewhere; sad because it is the end of a fifty-year connection which began with a decision then hailed as an outstanding example of magnanimity after victory; sad because it makes a breach in a community which has a great part to play in the world.

Yet, I will not end on that note. As I said on Thursday, sad as it is, we must look to the future. The statement on disarmament annexed to our final communiqué is, I believe, an important and significant achievement of this Conference. Despite our preoccupation with other problems, we were able quietly and patiently to exchange ideas and views and in friendly discussion to reach and to record agreement on a common aim in relation to the most important question facing the world today. This achievement is a demonstration of the vitality of the Commonwealth and a more convincing answer than any words of mine to any fainthearts whose courage is failing.

Nor is the loss of South Africa to the Commonwealth, when it comes, the end of the story. I read in one of the newspapers a phrase which struck me greatly. It said that the flag of South Africa must now be flown at half mast. So be it. But let us look forward to the day, perhaps not so distant as it may seem now, when it can again be hoisted in triumph to the masthead.

§ Mr. Hugh Gaitskell (Leeds, South)

Whatever our views on this momentous event may be, I feel confident that we should all warmly endorse the Prime Minister's closing remarks. However much we abhor the policies of the South 450 African Government it is certainly no part of our wish that we should cut ourselves off from the people of South Africa.

This is undoubtedly an event of great historic significance. I do not think that anybody would deny that. It marks a turning point in Commonwealth affairs. Many different accounts have been given of the Conference itself. Some have said that it was Dr. Verwoerd who was intransigent and others that it was the bitter hostility of some of the other Prime Ministers that provoked him. Some have said that the British Government did their best to keep South Africa in. Others, like one newspaper, have said that South Africa was forced out by Britain. I do not propose to discuss these matters. I think that they are more for historians and, no doubt, will be disclosed as time goes by in memoirs.

I would only say this an the British attitude. If the Prime Minister tried, as I think he did from his words today, to keep South Africa in, and tried very hard, then I suppose that one must say that the policy failed. Yet I would add that, personally, I doubt whether it could have succeeded except at too great a cost to the Commonwealth. For, even supposing the Prime Ministers had agreed to accept South Africa's continued membership while, at the same time, setting out their dislike of the South African Government's policy, I feel that after the tremendous build-up in the world's Press of what was taking place in London at that time such a solution might have turned out not to be a solution at all.

It could, indeed, have been disastrous if, for instance, after the Conference Dr. Verwoerd had return to South Africa claiming, as it were, some kind of triumph because he was remaining in the Commonwealth while, at the same time, other Prime Ministers were giving very different accounts of what had taken place. Nor would the argument have stopped merely because this year's Conference had been settled in that way.

Be that as it may, far more important than the different accounts of what took place are, I think, the different views on the significance of this event. Some, as the Prime Minister has said, are pessimistic. Sir Roy Welensky, Sir Edgar 451 Whitehead and Dr. Verwoerd himself have talked as though this were the beginning of the end of the Commonwealth, that it started a process which will continue until, one by one, other Commonwealth countries leave us.

It is perhaps worth pausing for a moment to ask why they take such a pessimistic view. It may be, in part, because of a certain difference in their attitude, or in the extent to which their feelings are aroused about this issue of racial policy, but I think that more important than that as a reason for their pessimism is the fear that a new precedent has been created which involves interference by the Commonwealth in the domestic affairs of one of the members of the Commonwealth.

The Prime Minister has explained to us that South Africa's racial policy was discussed at the Conference only with the consent of the Prime Minister of South Africa, and that that, as it were, is a safeguard. Nevertheless, these other Prime Ministers, as they have made plain, clearly continue to have serious anxieties. They appear to think that next year it may be, shall we say, Australia's immigration policy which will be brought up—indeed, Mr. Menzies himself referred to this possibility—or that on some other occasion the political system adopted in some other Commonwealth country will come in for criticism and that, in indignation at their internal affairs being discussed at the Prime Ministers' Conference, other nations may leave the Commonwealth.

I think that behind this fear lies something of great importance, a political conception of what the Commonwealth is. Behind the notion that internal policies cannot be discussed without creating great dangers lies a conception of the Commonwealth which I personally regard as now out of date. It is a conception which implies that we go on in the Commonwealth as a group, not because we have common ideals or standards of conduct, but as it were, for purely historical reasons because we are members of a family.

No doubt there are military alliances in some cases and there are economic ties in other cases which, so to speak, add to this historical background, but the whole assumption of that point of view is that the Commonwealth consists of a 452 group of countries with natural ties to one another, which countries do not, in fact, concern themselves with the internal policies of the others, with natural ties that are so strong that they can resist any possible divergencies there may be between the policies of the different countries. Furthermore, this conception of the Commonwealth carries with it, I think, the idea that the natural ties are all that is necessary to justify its existence.

This is a perfectly natural point of view for the people of Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps of Canada, to adopt. Here we have a blood relationship, if one may use that phrase, because those countries were colonised from Great Britain and, unquestionably, either we would have a position in which differences of the kind that we are discussing this afternoon would not arise, or the differences, such as they were, would not be sufficient to outweigh the family ties, the natural ties which have developed over the years. Equally, in this case I think that the people of those countries—or many of them—would be perfectly happy to regard our country from their point of view in that light, but, as the Prime Minister implied in his closing remarks, the same argument does not apply to the new nations of the Commonwealth.

Whether we like it or not, they are not tied to us in quite the same way as the older Dominions are. It is no use pretending that in their case the so-called family tie is anything like so strong on its own. Certainly, in the case of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, the existence of a common history, the link that we have with them both politically and economically, is strong, although it has to be noted that in the case of India and Ceylon there is no military alliance. Certainly for the time being language provides some sort of bond, but it is doubtful how long that will continue.

I do not believe that in the years ahead this purely family tie will be enough for the new nations of Asia and Africa to remain in the Commonwealth. There must be something else if they are to regard the Commonwealth as worthwhile, and that something else can only be common ideals and the feeling that the Commonwealth as a whole is something which is worthwhile for what it can do in the world.

453 In any event, the doctrine of not discussing the internal affairs of member countries broke down this year. It was bound to break down as soon as those policies spilled over in a way which tremendously affected the other members of the Commonwealth. There can be no doubt that this was the case so far as apartheid was concerned. It is, as I said the other day, a direct affront to the vast majority of the peoples of the Commonwealth who happen to be coloured. It was an embarrassment in our international relations, especially in the United Nations. It was, in my view, an additional source of friction wherever there was racial conflict. And the fact that the South African Government had refused to have diplomatic relations with other Commonwealth countries whose people were coloured was, of course, an added insult.

All of this had reached such a stage, produced such a contradiction inside the Commonwealth that, as I said earlier, I think that the point had been reached when it was almost inevitable that a break had to come.

Does this mean, however, as is suggested by Mr. Menzies and others, that there will be in the future other cases where conflict develops and argument develops and that the Commonwealth is accordingly weakened? I do not believe this. I agree with the Prime Minister here. I think that there is an essential difference between precept and practice.

It is quite true, of course, that there are racial conflicts elsewhere in the Commonwealth, but there is no other country which positively accepts as its ideology a policy of racial discrimination. That seems to be of fundamental importance. One can easily understand a discussion at a future Prime Ministers' Conference about an unfortunate racial riot which had broken out in some territory. One can easily understand its being discussed calmly, because, fundamentally, the Prime Ministers would agree how undesirable that kind of thing was and they would be talking about how to prevent it. That is very different from talking with someone who simply starts from totally different premises.

Secondly, I do not believe that, necessarily, these difficulties will arise in future, because I do not see for the 454 moment any particular internal policies of other countries in the Commonwealth which have such an impact on the rest of the Commonwealth. If, for example, in the future any Commonwealth country were, unfortunately, to fall into the hands of an openly Fascist or Communist Government, that would certainly create a very great strain and we might have to face the same kind of situation which we have faced in the last few years. But, unless and until that happens, I do not think that the divergencies and differences—and there must be such, for instance, in the political systems—will be of such a character as to produce the explosion which occurred this year.

I pass to the consequential problems created by the decision of the South African Prime Minister. I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman the Prime Minister that it is not wise to rush into decisions. These certainly are difficult issues and for myself I think that his proposal to have a Bill which keeps things going temporarily while negotiations, discussions, and so on are going on is not unreasonable.

As a matter of general principle, we have somehow to steer away from the two extremes. We do not want it to be supposed in the world as a whole, or in the Commonwealth, that it makes no difference at all whether a country is in the Commonwealth or not. We have to avoid that, but, equally, we do not needlessly wish to damage the interests of the people of South Africa. We have already said—the Prime Minister said it and I have said it—that we are deeply concerned about our relations with them. It would be foolish to do anything vindictive which would antagonise opinion in South Africa and possibly postpone the day when it may return to the Commonwealth.

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke (Dorset, South)

What about the boycott?

§ Mr. Gaitskell

The boycott was a personal matter, a matter best left to the consciences of individual Members. I happen to believe in it, and, if I had the time, I would explain to the noble Lord, but I have never proposed that Government sanctions should be applied.

The Prime Minister said that citizenship was a difficult issue. I do not see how one can apply the Irish precedent 455 entirely, because in that case there is full reciprocity, which I do not think would be forthcoming in this case. It is a privilege to be allowed to come to this country and to be treated as a British citizen, a privilege which has considerable value. I suggest that, in any event, we might continue the arrangement by which, I understand, it is perfectly easy for South African citizens to become British citizens, if they so desire.

At this stage, I have no special comment to make on the question of the preferences. The Prime Minister is reserving any future changes there may be in that direction, but I have one or two comments to make about the High Commission Territories. I ask the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to say, when he replies, whether a decision has yet been reached about the type of British official who will, presumably, be in charge of these territories from the end of May onwards.

As is well known, at present, that duty falls upon the United Kingdom High Commissioner in South Africa, but it would not be a good plan for the future Ambassador—as he will be—to South Africa also to be responsible for the High Commission Territories. I would guess that the people of those territories would much prefer that the responsibility for looking after them should be transferred to the Colonial Office and, accordingly, presumably, a Governor would be appointed for the three territories.

We all understand the peculiar geographical situation of these territories and their dependence on South Africa—although one might say that South Africa depended on them as well. It is now even more important that the Government should press ahead with their economic development. It is now a year since the Morse Report was published, a Report produced by a Committee set up by the Government themselves and giving precise proposals about what could be done. I hope that we shall have a firm and swift decision by the Government on that matter.

There are certain other consequences to which I must refer. I very much hope that the Government will now take a different attitude at the United Nations when issues of race relations, and especially questions of South Africa's 456 attitude, come up. Whatever justification there may have been—and we have been very critical of it—for the past attitude of the British Government has now completely disappeared. There is no need for us to line up with the colonial Powers of Portugal and Belgium and put ourselves in a tiny minority——

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke

Shame.

§ Mr. Gaitskell

—in conflict with the United States Government and doing ourselves very considerable damage in the cold war.

Of particular importance is the special case of South-West Africa. The record of the Government in this matter is quite indefensible. I remind the House, not of everything that has happened over the last year or two, but simply of what has happened since last December. On 15th December, the House passed a Resolution, nemine contradicente, calling upon Her Majesty's Government to take action to ensure that the Government of South Africa carried out the solemn obligations which it undertook by accepting the mandate for South-West Africa, or surrendered it to the United Nations so that alternative trustee arrangements could be made.

Three days after that unanimous Resolution, the United Nations General Assembly passed, by 90 votes in favour to none against, a Resolution condemning the application of apartheid in South-West Africa. Britain was one of only three countries to abstain. On 20th December, last year, and again this year, hon. Friends of mine asked the Government what action they proposed to take to carry out the Resolution, and the Government made it plain that they proposed to do nothing.

On 3rd March, this year, my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Marquand) and some of my hon. Friends tabled a Motion calling on the British Government to give effect to that Resolution. Ten days later, the Trusteeship Committee of the General Assembly passed a Resolution calling on those members of the United Nations having close and continuous relations with the Government of South Africa to bring all their moral influence to bear on that Government. Nothing was done by the British Government, so far as we are aware. We were told, in extenuation of the failure 457 of the British Government to vote for the Resolution—they abstained as usual—that the British delegation had had no time to obtain instructions and could take no decision on the merits of the Resolution. But on 16th March, three days later, when the Resolution came up before the General Assembly, by which time instructions could surely have been obtained, Britain once again abstained.

That is not good enough. The last of this story is that on 21st March, India introduced a 23-nation Resolution in the Trusteeship Committee authorising the existing Assembly Committee on South-West Africa to investigate conditions in the territory, if necessary without South Africa's co-operation. The United States delegate has announced that his country will support this. What is to be the attitude of the British Government?

In looking at this momentous event we must all regret that, because of the clash between the policies of the South African Government and the principles on which the modern Commonwealth is based, the people of South Africa of all colours should no longer be with us in the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, for my part I believe that what has happened does give the Commonwealth a significance and a purpose without which it would not have survived for long.

But this will be so only if we ourselves accept quite clearly the change that has occurred. It is a change which rejects the old idea that this association, this grouping of nations, need have no special principles and its members no special affinities, except historical ties. It is a change which implies clearly the existence of common ideals—the common ideals of racial equality, political freedom, extending the right of self-government to the rest of the Commonwealth, non-aggression in international affairs, economic co-operation, and aid between nations.

These ideals may be imperfectly realised in many instances, but, nevertheless, they, and they alone, give the Commonwealth its real justification today, just as the extraordinary variety in terms of geography, race and religion of the Commonwealth provides a wonderful opportunity to advance these ideals in a practical form in the world as a whole.

§ Mr. R. H. Turton (Thirsk and Malton)

The right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition put the act which we are discussing today in its true perspective when he described it as a matter of great historical importance and as a turning point in Commonwealth history. In my view, that was a more accurate description than using the adjective "sad", which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister used.

South Africa's departure from the Commonwealth is an act of tragedy. No other word properly describes the fact of this old Commonwealth country leaving the Commonwealth. My reason for saying that is based on the concept of the Commonwealth, to which the Leader of the Opposition referred. I regard it as a tragedy because a number of the Prime Ministers—not my right hon. Friend—have misunderstood the nature of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is not, and never has been, an association of Governments. It is an association of peoples. That is why what we are discussing today is a very dangerous precedent.

The Commonwealth has driven South Africa out of the Commonwealth because it has criticised its Government. That is the reason why South Africa has left. I realise the difficulties of the situation. Not one of the Prime Ministers present at the Conference could agree with the methods of apartheid which have been used by the South African Government. I am sure that there is not a single right hon. or hon. Member who is not equally revolted by the system and methods of apartheid.

That is not the end of the story, because by this decision we have abandoned the men and women who have looked to the Commonwealth and to this country for their one hope for the future, for the easing of the rigours of apartheid.

I remember perfectly well the days in 1942 when I was in Gazala, in North Africa. My division had South African armoured cars in front of them patrolling no-man's land. On our right flank was the 1st South African Division, led by that grand General, Dan Pienaar. These two divisions, the 50th Northumbrians and the 1st South African, held the Eighth Army front against the Germans and the Italians. Men of the older generation, 459 like my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, will never forget the courage of the South Africans at Delville Wood, in the First World War. Those men fought and died for freedom, yet by this act we have abandoned them to the rigours of apartheid and have shaken the foundations of the Commonwealth.

The greatest Commonwealth statesman I have ever met in my life was Field Marshal Jan Smuts. When he addressed the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on 25th November, 1943—there are still hon. Members in the House who remember that speech—he said this: The British Empire and the British Commonwealth remain as one of the greatest things of the world and of history and nothing can touch that fact. Last Wednesday, that was proved wrong. I cannot escape the conclusion that this issue—grave, complicated and difficult—was mishandled at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference and that Her Majesty's Government, who acted as hosts of the Conference, with the Prime Minister as Chairman, must take their full share of the responsibility for that failure.

The Archbishop of Capetown, who is no friend of apartheid, has declared that the Bantu people wish to remain in the Commonwealth. Is there any doubt that the United Party and the Progressive Party, both of whom condemn the methods of apartheid, want to remain in the Commonwealth? Why was no attempt made to find out the views of the people of South Africa on the issue of membership of the Commonwealth? I appreciate that a referendum would not have been a possible method because of the system of franchise, but many right hon. and hon. Members know that other methods were suggested. Why was not a species of Gallup poll taken to find out the views in South Africa when there was still time? That is where I believe that we have failed.

§ Sir Peter Agnew (Worcestershire, South)

Does my right hon. Friend mean a Gallup poll undertaken by Her Majesty's Government, or one undertaken by the South African Government?

§ Mr. Turton

The Leader of the United Party, in a speech at the Royal Commonwealth Society, said that there 460 should have been some sampling of public opinion in South Africa. His speech was reported in all the newspapers. There are a certain number of people in South Africa who would have helped to conduct that poll to find out the opinion of both the Bantu and the whites of South Africa. If the Prime Minister and the Government had given sufficient encouragement, that poll could have been carried out and it would have had a tremendous effect.

§ Mr. J. Grimond (Orkney and Shetland)

Is the right hon. Gentleman really suggesting that Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom should have carried on a Gallup poll in South Africa? Would he tolerate for one moment an attempt by other Governments to do that in this country?

§ Mr. Turton

I am so sorry, I seem not to have made myself clear. I was not suggesting that Her Majesty's Government in this country should carry out a poll in South Africa. I said that speeches had been made by prominent South African politicians, and that if Her Majesty's Government had used the influence they undoubtedly possess on the Prime Minister of South Africa I believe that a non-political body could have carried out a poll in South Africa, as the News Chronicle carried out polls here before it was murdered. That is my point, and I hope that the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations will be able to say whether it was considered. It has been mentioned in correspondence in the newspapers.

The danger of this decision is that once we regard the Commonwealth as a Commonwealth of Governments and not of peoples, directly there comes into power, for however short or long a period, a Government that practise some form of racial discrimination that is obnoxious, we shall find it voted out, and the Commonwealth will shrink very rapidly.

So much for the past—let us now look to the future. The right hon. Gentleman the Leader of the Opposition, in one part of his speech, appeared to be trying to adopt a vengeful, malicious attitude, trying to hound South Africa still further. I think that he is the exception, and I regret very much that he used that part of his speech today and did not reserve it for another occasion——

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke

Disgraceful.

§ Mr. Turton

We should try to do what we can to repair the damage of last Wednesday, and I hope that my right hon. Friend will take two actions that I now want to suggest. I hope that when it is clear at any time that any future South African Government expresses a wish to rejoin the Commonwealth, Her Majesty's Government will welcome and sponsor that request—

§ Mr. Llywelyn Williams (Abertillery)

On conditions.

§ Mr. Turton

On no conditions, because I believe it to be a Commonwealth of peoples, and if the people of South Africa at any time elect to power a Government that want South Africa to come back into the Commonwealth it is the duty of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom to welcome and to sponsor that request—

§ Mr. Ll. Williams

Does the right hon. Gentleman still say that he would not ask for the obvious condition of disavowal of apartheid in this connection?

§ Mr. Turton

I cannot think that the hon. Gentleman has followed my argument. I have said that I dislike apartheid as much as any other hon. Member here, but that I know very many hundreds of people in South Africa who share my views on apartheid, so I think that if a South African Government asked to come back, my right hon. Friend or his successor should welcome them, and sponsor that application—

§ Sir Lynn Ungoed-Thomas (Leicester, North-East)

Would the right hon. Gentleman answer the question—

§ Mr. Turton

I understand that many hon. Members want to speak, and if I am continually interrupted I shall take longer than I wish.

How can we repair the damage? Let us recall the precedents of Eire and Burma. On the citizenship aspect, I disagree with the Leader of the Opposition. We can still make provisions for citizenship similar to those that have been made in Ireland. Secondly, on Commonwealth priority and trade, I understood the Prime Minister to say that these, being bilateral agreements, will be continued. I hope very much 462 that that is the construction, and not the construction placed on them by the Leader of the Opposition.

Far more important is the whole system of technical and consultative agencies at present working in the Commonwealth. I hope that we will try, as far as lies in the power of Great Britain, to allow South Africa to continue to participate in the consultation and technical associations. I agree that I must put in a proviso, "As far as lies in our power".

Hitherto, one of the dominant factors of the Commonwealth has been its flexibility, but last Wednesday's decision has quite clearly imported a certain degree of rigidity into the Commonwealth concept. That having happened, I think that the time has come for us to take advantage of that development, and I suggest that my right hon. Friend should consider whether we should not now seek to inaugurate a new relationship—that of external associate of the Commonwealth.

The Expanding Commonwealth Group has put up this suggestion of external relationships in a recent pamphlet "Expanding Obligation". We believe that at this time it is important not to sever the links between primary producing countries, but to strengthen them.

Quite clearly, it would mean that associated countries could not enjoy any of the rights of consultation that are the most important feature of Commonwealth relations, but it would also mean that that pattern of living with mutual economic benefit at which we try to aim through our system of multi-racial partnership could be sought by other methods by those countries which enjoyed that external relationship.

It is not a difficult change—we now have the examples of Eire and Burma, and we could have South Africa in the same sort of relationship. In the Horn of Africa we are facing the problem of Somaliland which, again, might be suitable for this form of external relationship; and I would also mention the Sudan. I think that those are the best ways by which we can try to repair the damage of the tragedy of last week.

I should like to turn for a moment to one other aspect of the problem. As some hon. Members may know, I was, for personal reasons, in Central Africa 463 last week, when the news broke about South Africa. It might be helpful if I told the House how that news was received in the Rhodesias and what was the general public opinion in the Federation, bearing in mind that I had previously been in the Federation as late as the end of January.

I would first remind the House that a great many of those now in North and South Rhodesia are men who have come quite recently from the Union because they have disliked working under apartheid. They have migrated north to try to live in the Federation, leaving their homes in South Africa because they felt that the Boer mentality of apartheid was more reminiscent of the nineteenth than of the twentieth century. They are professional men and tradesmen who have made that march.

Whereas, in January, I found dislike for the British Parliament most noticeable amongst the Right-wing politicians, the rest—both the Centre and the Left—were most anxious to co-operate, especially those in Southern Rhodesia, as I think my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations can testify from the experience of the most successful negotiations that he carried out in Salisbury.

I found last week that there had been a complete change of opinion. The abandonment of the 1958 Constitution in Northern Rhodesia and the realisation that in Nyasaland, as a result of changes made since the Lancaster House Conference, non-Commonwealth citizens are to be enfranchised while Nyasas working in Southern Rhodesia are being disfranchised, have led to a complete mistrust of the British Parliament and, in particular, of Her Majesty's Government. That mistrust could be found among all but a very small minority of Europeans, and among all moderate Africans.

During the last week what they regarded as the incompetent mishandling of the South African problem has accentuated that mistrust. They feel isolated, sandwiched between, on the north, the Congo, where Communist infiltration has led to the abandonment of law and order, and, on the south, the South African Government, who are now outside the Commonwealth, and whose racial discrimination they dislike. This is not 464 the view merely of politicians. My experiences of last week brought me into close contact with professional men who were completely outside politics. This is a crisis of confidence. They have no confidence in Her Majesty's Ministers' ability to determine the future of their country, or to save the multi-racial partnership in which they believe.

Let me try to explain their thoughts. They honestly believe that South Africa has been driven out of the Commonwealth in consequence of an unfortunate speech about the "wind of change". They consider that the Secretary of State for the Colonies has completely abandoned the proposals and pledges of his predecessors in office.

§ Mr. Ll. Williams

Is that the opinion of the right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton)?

§ Mr. Turton

I have stated their view so that this House can understand how necessary it is for them to be reassured.

That is the change that I have found during the last six weeks. In these circumstances, if there is a referendum on the proposed changes in the Southern Rhodesian Constitution, they will vote against them. Had they a measure of confidence in Her Majesty's Government, I believe that today, in Southern Rhodesia, all politicians, except those on the extreme Right, would welcome the plan devised by my right hon. Friend. It appears to them to be modelled on what we call the Lennox-Boyd 1958 Constitution for Northern Rhodesia.

Time is not on our side. Let me warn the House. I believe that mistrust is leading to despair, and that despair is leading to thoughts of desperate methods. I beg the Government to reconsider their policy before they let loose a tide of violence which, in my view, would not only destroy the more than worthwhile experiment in multi-racial partnership, but would also shatter the Commonwealth that has been so shaken by the mishandling of the situation last week.

§ Mr. John Dugdale (West Bromwich)

The right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton) has given us the benefit of his views, not only on South Africa but on what he called "public opinion" in Rhodesia. I wonder how 465 many people in how many races he consulted. I am surprised that he should say that public opinion in Southern Rhodesia holds the views to which he has referred. I should like to know how many Africans he consulted, and whether he consulted just a certain group of people.

I must take him up on this extraordinary idea of a Gallup poll. According to him, a Gallup poll should be conducted; I do not know by whom—by the Victoria League, perhaps, which would go to South Africa for this purpose. Shall we have a poll conducted by the Soviet Union in Great Britain? There is no end to that kind of game once it is started. Surely if an expression of opinion is required, the best course is to have an election, and that presumably Dr. Verwoerd will have. In that way one can tell, at any rate, what white opinion is. One certainly cannot tell anything about black opinion from it.

Nor do I agree with the right hon. Gentleman on his other idea of an external associate of the Commonwealth. I did not altogether understand what he meant by that, because he limited it to primary producers so far as I could understand. Only primary producers were to be externally associated with the Commonwealth. If it were otherwise it might be worth doing, but I would not advocate that sort of thing simply as a method of getting South Africa back into the Commonwealth, which is what I think he had in mind.

The Prime Minister has said that we are sad today. I believe many people are sad. I can understand the point of view of the right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton who referred to the abandonment of British-born men and women—those who have defended us as their one hope in helping them to ease the rigours of apartheid. I am sorry for these men and women, of whom there are many, in South Africa. But do not let us imagine that every British-born man and woman in South Africa is against apartheid. I wish it were so, but I fear that it is not. In fact, I think that the fact that South Africa has left the Commonwealth and the fact that she may one day come back again will help those people who are fighting for liberalism and for the rights of Africans 466 in South Africa. Many of them will feel: "If we fight hard enough there is a chance that South Africa may have a more liberal policy, and if she has a more liberal policy there is a chance that she will come back again into the Commonwealth."

Many of them may now be much more concerned to help those few noble fighters for liberalism in South Africa. I hope they will be helped by many thousands who up till now have not taken a strong enough line, who have been content to let apartheid continue and have not taken any action to stop it.

I think that as well as sorrow many of us have a feeling of profound relief that South Africa is now out of the Commonwealth. It may be said that this is hypocritical, but one has felt some shame when people have said, "These acts are being carried out within your Commonwealth." We all know that we cannot influence South Africa. We know that she carries on her own policy, but there has always been that feeling of shame when people have said, "This is what is being done in a part of your Commonwealth." They will soon not be able to say that any longer.

It will make things much easier for us in the United Nations, and easier for Her Majesty's Government, too. I hope that Her Majesty's Government will, as my right hon. Friend said, avail themselves of the opportunity to take a line which they may often have wanted to take in the past but which they have not been able to take, simply because of South Africa being in the Commonwealth. It may be that Her Majesty's Government can now take a new line. They certainly will not have an excuse if they refrain from joining with other nations in protesting against the action of the South African Government in South West Africa.

I want to refer for a moment to the future and, in particular, to Dr. Verwoerd's speech on television. I do not know how many people listened to it. I listened to part of it myself, and I was fascinated by it. There is no doubt that Dr. Verwoerd is one of the most brilliant exponents on television in the world, probably even surpassing the Prime Minister, who is very good indeed. For all that, I think that those of us who have actually met Dr. Verwoerd, who have talked with 467 him and who have really come under his spell, know what is behind it. I spent two or three hours with him, and I have never met a more charming, old-world gentleman.

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke

When was this?

§ Mr. Dugdale

About eight or nine months ago. I felt while I was talking to him that he was not just charming with a superficial charm but that he was like a father confessor: someone with whom one could discuss all sorts of serious problems who would pat one on the head and give one friendly advice about everything. That is the kind of attitude which he produces on television very skilfully indeed. I had to keep reminding myself that this was the man responsible for Sharpeville, Langa and all the other shooting that has taken place in South Africa.

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke

The right hon. Gentleman cannot say that Dr. Verwoerd was responsible for these outrages. The people responsible were a lot of brash and over-adventurous police.

§ Mr. Dugdale

The police are controlled by Dr. Verwoerd and, to the best of my knowledge they were not dismissed as a result of their action, though I may be wrong about that. It is a far better principle to blame the Prime Minister and the men at the top than to blame the police at the bottom. They were carrying out the kind of policy advocated by Dr. Verwoerd.

The point that I was making was the extreme difficulty of reconciling Dr. Verwoerd's personal charm with the policy of apartheid. One has to realise that he leads a sort of double life—a kind of Jekyll and Hyde life. One of the things which he said in his speech was that he hoped eventually to get the Prime Minister away from the rest of the Commonwealth. He talked of Mr. Macmillan's reluctance to go with the Asians, the Africans and all the rest. He said that in order to help Mr. Macmillan he had taken this wonderful action to make it easier for him, and he went on to hope that South Africa and the white countries would come together, and, somehow or other, one gathered that the black countries would 468 all be shed. There would be no more Mr. Nehru to worry him and no more Pakistanis, and certainly no more people from Africa.

Surely that is not the view that we take now. Surely that is not the view which the Prime Minister takes, let alone anyone else. It is certainly not the view that Mr. Diefenbaker takes. I pay tribute to him, and I do so particularly because only about five weeks ago I had a very long conversation with him in Ottowa in the course of which I came to the conclusion that he was going to recommend that South Africa should remain in the Commonwealth and that he would do all that he could to press for that. I realise now that I was quite wrong and that he had other views. It is remarkable the effect that they had. It appears that it was not by any means the black Prime Ministers alone, the Asians and Africans alone, who have been responsible for what happened. Mr. Diefenbaker seemed to play a very great part in this, and all of us on this side of the House are very grateful to him for what he did.

§ Mr. Cyril Osborne (Louth)

Has the hon. Member any idea why Mr. Diefenbaker changed his mind so rapidly in the nine months between the two occasions on which he met him?

§ Mr. Dugdale

I said that I met Dr. Verwoerd about nine months ago. I met Mr. Diefenbaker nine weeks or less ago. I was talking about two quite different people—one called Dr. Verwoerd and the other Mr. Diefenbaker. I should like to quote from an article in the Observer last Sunday: The policy of maintaining close and friendly relations between our Governments is undoubtedly the right one for Dr. Verwoerd, which should make it the wrong one for Mr. Macmillan. In other words, the policy of damping things down and pretending that nothing has happened may be good for Dr. Verwoerd but is certainly not right, so said the Observer, for the Prime Minister, nor, I submit, is it right for hon. Members of this House.

I think that we have to take a totally different line. We in this House are proud to belong to the Commonwealth. Dr. Verwoerd is not proud. Surely that must make some difference to our attitude. What action should we take 469 in the future? I would have thought that the Commonwealth has certain rewards to offer to those people who are felt worthy of belonging to it. I should like to mention an article published in the Cape Times a few days ago: The plain meaning of events in London is that we have been thrown out of the Commonwealth, out of the group of the most tolerant and most civilised, the most fair-minded peoples in the world. And we have been thrown out because of the policies of political nationalism, those narrow-minded, inflexible doctrines. If one belongs to the most tolerant group of people in the world one expects to get some reward. If one breaks away from it, it may be that one does not expect to get quite the same rewards. I do not want to go into great detail of what might be done now. I quite appreciate the Prime Ministers desire to go slowly on this and not to rush into things immediately. I personally do not believe that there is a case for a national boycott today, though I believe that there is a case for personal boycott. I think, too, that it is quite a different matter when we say that South Africa, with whose policies we radically disagree, and who has deliberately broken away from the Commonwealth, should get exactly the same preference as the West Indies, Australia and other members of the Commonwealth. That seems to me to be quite wrong. I doubt whether they are worthy, if one likes to put it that way, to get the same preference as India, Pakistan and other Commonwealth countries. Why should they get better treatment than France, Belgium and Scandinavia and many other foreign countries. South Africa has elected to become a foreign country and should be treated as a foreign country in that respect.

I shall not go into details about citizenship, which is an extremely complicated matter. I do not think that we have to rush into it too quickly. I would say that we have to be very careful in talking about a parallel with the Irish situation. It is very different here, where a large number of people in South Africa would not be given the same rights, the same passports and the same privileges of travel as are given to the white population. In Ireland, so far as I know, all Irishmen get all rights exactly equal, but the same is not true 470 in South Africa. We have to be very careful to see that if special rights are given they are given to people of all races, and I am doubtful if South Africa will do this.

§ Mr. Osborne

Would the right hon. Gentleman apply the same logic to Ghana, where opposition members are locked up merely because they are loyal members of Her Majesty's Opposition?

§ Mr. Dugdale

It is a form of dictatorship. Though I profoundly disagree with the policy of Ghana in this respect, it is a very different thing from the policy of South Africa and of apartheid, which is directed against a whole race. I believe that South Africa cannot enjoy all the privileges of the Commonwealth club without paying the dues which are paid by all members of the club. It is wrong that she should, and I consider that we must be very careful to see that she does not.

I turn now to a subject touched on by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition, the position of the High Commission Territories. For some time now, many of us have been of opinion that it is wrong that there should be one man in charge of the High Commission Territories and in charge of relations with South Africa. We have felt in the past that it was wrong that he should have a double allegiance, but now, undoubtedly, the position must change. There will be an Ambassador under the Foreign Office accredited to the Union of South Africa, and there must be a man in charge in the territories who quite plainly will not be in the Foreign Office. My own personal view is that he should be in the Colonial Office. I think that the logical thing is for the territories to come under the Colonial Office rather than under the Commonwealth Relations Office. If the peoples of the territories object, I should not press that, although I believe that, from their point of view, it would be better if the territories did come under the Colonial Office. I hope that this will be done, because the Colonial Office, after all, is used to dealing with their kind of problems and the Commonwealth Relations Office is not. It is purely a coincidence that the present arrangement under the Commonwealth Relations Office should have been made.

471 The task of the man who is sent to govern the territories will be a very hard one indeed. The territories are poor and backward and undoubtedly have not been developed as they should have been either by the Government opposite or, if I may say so in all honesty, by our own side. I do not think that either party in the past has really paid sufficient attention to them or has developed them enough. Certainly, they have not been developed enough during recent years, and there remains a great deal to be done. As I say, the task will be hard, but it will be a very rewarding one. I hope that whoever performs it will put as much energy into the development of the territories, in education, social services, and the whole economic life of the territories, as has been put by this country into some of the larger Colonies in the past.

We are now going down a new road. It is a long road, and a difficult road, but at the end we shall, I hope, find a South Africa which is reborn and found worthy once again to enter the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. Ronald Russell (Wembley, South)

Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton), I regard what happened last week as a tragedy. I, too, hope that it will not be a precedent for any other member of the Commonwealth. I am particularly sad about it because I spent a very happy ten days in the Union only about six weeks ago, where, to a certain extent to my surprise, I found everybody, from the Speaker of the House of Assembly downwards, absolutely friendly and courteous. I confess that I should not have been surprised if I had met some hostility in view of some of the things which had been said in this country during recent years about the Union.

As the right hon. Member for West Bromwich (Mr. Dugdale) said, some people of British descent are not opposed to apartheid. There are, I think, two reasons for this. One is the reason I have just mentioned, the attitude of some Members of the House in the way they have attacked South Africa in past years. Also, I think, they are not convinced that racial partnership can work. It is my hope that in the years ahead we shall convince them that it can and does work, so that they will change their attitude in 472 this respect and, eventually, South Africa will come back into the Commonwealth.

I turn now to the trade side of the tragedy. I am very glad indeed that the agreement which governs our trade relations with the Union of South Africa, the one which has brought about the present system of Commonwealth Preference, is not affected by what has happened. It is one of the Ottawa Agreements which goes on indefinitely until terminated by six months' notice on either side. I hope that it will remain the firm intention of Her Majesty's Government that, as far as we are concerned, no action will be taken to terminate that agreement.

It is not the only agreement of its kind. At the time of the Ottawa Conference, South Africa made similar agreements with Canada, New Zealand and Eire, and since then she has, I think, made similar agreements with Australia and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. I am sure that many of those agreements will follow the fate, whether good or bad, which may be given to our agreement with the Union, and this is why I hope that we shall maintain the present agreement which we have.

As I understand the position, Commonwealth Preference is enjoyed by South Africa on about 50 per cent. of her exports to this country, excluding gold. It has always been one of the puzzles of our trade relations that gold should be regarded as something so secret that no figures are ever given of imports or exports to and from this country in our relations with any other country. Only global figures for the year are given, so we cannot know what the exports of gold to this country from South Africa are. Of the rest of her exports, 50 per cent. enjoy Commonwealth Preference, although some of the preferences are undoubtedly small. In the other direction, about 20 per cent. of our exports to South Africa enjoy Commonwealth Preferences in that country, and this is something which, I hope, we shall always remember.

The distribution of South Africa's trade results in about one-third of her total imports coming from the United Kingdom and 11 per cent. from other Commonwealth countries. In 1958, we took no less than 30 per cent. of her exports and other Commonwealth countries took 20 per cent. This shows what 473 an important part is played, first, by Commonwealth Preference and, secondly, by Commonwealth sentiment and feeling for fellow-countrymen. Commonwealth trade plays a great part in the trade relations of the Union. We are South Africa's best customer, and she was our fifth best customer in 1960 after the United States, Australia, Canada and Western Germany. Bearing in mind that of the total population of 13 million, or whatever it is, of all races in the Union only about 700,000 voted in favour of a republic, it is, in my view, unthinkable that we should treat South Africa and, therefore, all those people any less well than we have been treating her in the past. I very much hope that the present arrangement will be continued.

Last year, we bought £29 million worth of fruit from the Union, £6 million worth of sugar and £1 million worth of wine. I interpose that there is another problem in regard to sugar created by the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement. While we maintain, as I hope we shall maintain, the Commonwealth Preference which we grant to sugar from South Africa and Australia, this is different from the arrangement in regard to the Colonial Territories.

I wonder whether my right hon. Friend can give us any information about the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement. Am I right in thinking that the Agreement as it is at the moment lasts for about six years ahead, the quota being agreed every year for that period ahead, so that nothing can happen for about six years with regard to South Africa? Also, we should bear in mind that sugar in South Africa is grown almost entirely in Natal, and that the South African sugar quota under the Commonwealth Agreement, as I understand it, includes also the sugar quota of Swaziland, which, presumably, we should wish to maintain.

There is preference on most of the fruit, the oranges, the apples and the canned fruit, coming from South Africa. Last year, South Africa was our largest supplier of canned fruit, with £11½ million worth, and three-quarters of her exports of canned fruit come to this country.

As I said, we bought £1 million worth of South African wine last year. That is about 60 per cent. of her total exports. 474 Other exports of South African wine go to Canada, New Zealand, West Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Far East. Thanks to the Common Market, there is the danger of a drop in South African exports of wine to countries like the Netherlands and Germany. I understand that the South African wine industry employs from 120,000 to 130,000 people, and that includes, not only grapes for wine and the processing of it, but table grapes and raisins as well. Of course, most of those people are Africans.

Exactly a hundred years ago we ruined the South African wine industry by abandoning Commonwealth Preference and introducing free trade in wine. Imports of wine into this country, which at that time, 1861, amounted to 600,000 gallons fell to as little as 10,000 gallons about thirty years later. It was not until 1925, when we restored the preference, that trade recovered, and it has gradually grown since to its present level. I hope that there will be no question of our repeating the tragedy of a hundred years ago and ruining an industry in which there is a great deal of capital and which employs a large number of Africans who, I am sure, every hon. Member wishes to help.

We must also remember our own exports, of which, as I said, about 20 per cent. receive some form of Commonwealth Preference in the Union. I know that we have done quite well in the export of cars, for example, which do not receive any Commonwealth preference. Most electrical machinery, in particular, gets the benefit of Commonwealth Preference in the Union. We would be very unwise, from our own point of view, quite apart from the much greater damage that we would do to the Union, if we abandoned a system which benefits our own exports.

Only six weeks ago I found that there is a great deal of good feeling in the Union towards this country. It comes from people of all races and parties. They are very pro-British in outlook in many ways. I am sure that every hon. Member will agree that South Africa is a go-ahead country. It is full of large resources. It is one of the biggest gold and uranium producers in the world. Its industry is developing on as extensive lines as those of other leading Commonwealth countries. We often hear of firms 475 in our country and other European countries setting up subsidiaries in Commonwealth countries and other underdeveloped countries.

In South Africa, I came across an example of this working the other way. A South African firm which manufactures spin-drier washing machines is setting up a subsidiary company to construct an assembly plant in Holland. That shows the go-ahead nature of South African industry. It is partly due to the quality and cheapness of South African steel.

In conclusion, I reiterate the hope that, whatever may happen in future, there will be no question of our abandoning the Commonwealth Preference system, bearing in mind that, whatever may be the view of the majority of people who voted for a republic, we do not know the views of the minority who voted against it and of the vast majority who had no vote at all about the question of South Africa's continued Commonwealth membership. We should do them immense harm if we abandoned this system, and, therefore, I hope that it will continue and that we will set an example to the rest of the Commonwealth by continuing it.

§ Mr. Malcolm MacPherson (Stirling and Falkirk Burghs)

The hon. Member for Wembley, South (Mr. Russell) has dealt with a very important and special aspect of our relations with South Africa which I hope will be tackled with common sense. I will not go into detail about it. I think that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition expressed the view which most of us on this side take. We do not wish to discuss with any spirit of vindictiveness the great country which has left the Commonwealth. On the other hand, we do not want South Africa to feel that she has exactly the same rights and privileges as if she were still in the Commonwealth. Apart from saying that, I should not like to attempt to go into the questions which the hon. Member raised.

The main current of the debate so far has shown that we are perhaps ready to accept a practical solution of the problem. What are really worrying the House, I think, are the problems of ethics and the nature of the Commonwealth. 476 Preceding speeches have, for the most part, followed that theme, and so will mine.

The right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton) ran into trouble with my hon. Friends and some of his own hon. Friends at one stage. He began his speech with the statement of a dilemma which I think has struck hon. Members on this side forcibly, too. This was not a happy decision to take, but it is still less easy to feel that we are leaving out of our Commonwealth not only the Government which oppresses the black people of South Africa but the black people themselves.

The right hon. Gentleman found rather too easy a solution to that dilemma, but I hope that neither he nor any other hon. Member will feel that those of us who approve of the severance of the connection between South Africa and the Commonwealth are happy that the African people of South Africa—the voteless, the people in the segregated races—are also outside our family.

Apartheid was the prime mover in this matter. There is no doubt that this question fell into a distinct and individual class. It is no use talking as if, having dealt with this particular fault in the case of South Africa, we are likely to use it as a precedent for dealing with faults on a smaller scale in other countries. I do not think that that is likely to happen.

My right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition said that South Africa seems to be adhering to quite different standards from ours. It is not that she is falling below the standards that we are trying to reach but that she is not trying to reach our standards on a massive question, the question of racial discrimination, which touches the conscience of our time more strongly than it did in the earlier history of our Commonwealth on a great number of other questions.

Apartheid has so far been looked upon by the Commonwealth members as a matter for the domestic jurisdiction of South Africa. It has been a bit too explosive to remain in that position, and the Prime Minister carefully pointed out that this matter was discussed after a waiver of rights by the South African 477 Prime Minister. But still, a generation ago, this sort of thing would hardly have been possible. In the Commonwealth we would have felt that a matter of domestic jurisdiction must not be discussed. Dr. Verwoerd thinks that it was wrong to take it up, although he agreed to have it discussed. I do not think it will be possible to regard it as anything but a precedent.

It seems to me that this is a turning point in the Commonwealth. It seems to me that here we have a very considerable break with the past. One phrase which the right hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton used was about inflexibility, when he said that the Commonwealth was becoming more inflexible. It is not a phrase that I should like to use, and not an idea that I should like to connect with the Commonwealth, but I think that to a very small extent he may perhaps be right. The Commonwealth was, perhaps, too flexible in matters of that kind, which have involved deep principle in the past. It may well be true in the future that we shall not be able in the Commonwealth to avoid an enormous question of principle like this on the simple ground that it falls within the domestic jurisdiction of one member.

This seems to me to be one tremendous change in the nature of the Commonwealth and in the practice of the Commonwealth, which itself springs from a change in the nature of the association that we now wish to be. There is another very considerable effect involved in this. Dr. Verwoerd himself has stressed that the Commonwealth has changed since 1960—since last year. He says that it is beginning to disintegrate, changing in the wrong direction. The Sunday Times tells us that the Commonwealth has been diminished. I do not agree with that; I think exactly the opposite, but there is no doubt that a change has taken place.

I am very glad that my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition stressed the importance of considering this severance of relations in the light not only of its effects on South Africa but of its effect on the Commonwealth as a Commonwealth. I see two very considerable changes in Commonwealth practice and principle. One is that we have departed in this tremendously important matter from a readiness to consider it simply as a matter of domestic 478 jurisdiction. The other is that we have added what we might call a new principle of Commonwealth in our generation in the period since the First World War. The Commonwealth has gone through a good many changes. It has been changing fast, but nearly all changes have been of structure and status. They are the changes expressed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. They have been changes adding to the individual importance of members, changes which have been concerned with the place of individual members in the association. There has been a process of gradual movement towards independence.

We now have, it seems to me, a change of a completely different order. We are now beginning to make changes in the matter of principle. So far, if I have been reading Commonwealth history aright, the only principle that has been found unanimously to have been continuously working throughout the history of the Commonwealth has been the principle of liberty. That has led to independence and the changes we have seen in the last few decades. but now we have added to that principle the important principal of racial tolerance—the principle of a multi-racial Commonwealth.

Here, we have two tremendously strong and, I think, tremendously creative principles at work in the Commonwealth. The principle of liberty has in the past been equally creative. I believe that in the next generation, or in the next generation or two, the principle of nondiscrimination as between races is likely to be just as creative. I do not, therefore, feel that the Commonwealth has been diminished, as we are told by the editorial writer in the Sunday Times. I feel rather that it has taken a stand on another principle which is likely to lead the Commonwealth to further growth and further influence, and this just at a time when the critics were beginning to ask, "What is the Commonwealth? How much of the Commonwealth is there left? What does the Commonwealth stand for?" We have always stood for the principle of liberty and for the working out of that principle through political institutions. The Commonwealth now stands absolutely unmistakably and four square on the principle of nondiscrimination as between races, and, 479 therefore, we have a Commonwealth with a meaning.

The Times used an interesting phrase about it—"the newly shaping Commonwealth". In the last few decades, historians of the Commonwealth have gone in for all sorts of interesting names—the Third British Empire, the Second Commonwealth, and that kind of thing. I do not know what we may call this stage, but it seems to me that this change that we are now in process of witnessing is a change on the grounds very largely of ideology, and partly on the grounds of accepting as a matter of common interest what a generation ago would have been accepted simply as a matter of internal interest. This change is perhaps just as great as the kind of change initiated in the years just after the First World War.

It has its dangers, of course. It means that the Commonwealth is breaking into the field of ideology, to use a rather less attractive term for what we would otherwise mean by the word "principle", but the principle of liberty has its dangers, too. When we talked of giving independence to members of the Commonwealth or of the Empire in the old days, there were plenty of critics who said that once we did that they would grow up and leave the house, and there would be no Commonwealth left. Everything has its dangers, but I think the likelihood is that our taking our stand on this principle today will be advantageous rather than dangerous.

I do not want to try to follow up the special problems that arise in connection with South Africa itself. I think most of them have been raised in the course of the debate, such as the question of nationality, which is a very difficult one to deal with, and the question of the Protectorates, on which I would only echo what my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition said, that it seems to me that instead of a High Commissioner covering all three territories, a situation which arose only because of their special relationship with South Africa, the sensible thing is to make them separate territories each under a Governor, as with those territories which are at present under the Colonial Office.

There is also the question of our attitude to the United Nations, the question of defence agreements, and the special 480 question which the hon. Member for Wembley, South raised of our trade relations. All these have to be dealt with, and I feel that the two right hon. Gentlemen who opened the debate have taken the right kind of attitude about these groups of questions. I am inclined to agree with the Prime Minister that there is a case for a standstill on a number of them, and certainly a number of them are exceedingly complex, and we must try, so far as it is a matter of our decision, to temper the exigencies of sending a country out of the Commonwealth—which is what we have done, although the form was that of withdrawal—with ordinary decency and friendliness and dislike or unreadiness to put into effect anything which could be considered as being vindictive or deliberately unpleasant.

§ Viscount Hinchingbrooke (Dorset, South)

In about 1950, at the height of the cold war, the word "democracy" was used equally by the two protagonists. To us, whatever it may have meant to the Russians, their use of it connoted blood and steel and concrete, whereas our own use of the word, with all sweetness and light, was illustrated by "The Right Road for Britain", "The Future belongs to You", or whatever the phraseology was, veritable lambs in springtime. "Democracy" was then a ju-ju word and "apartheid" is a ju-ju word today.

Whatever I may say about developments in South Africa, I want hon. Members, if they will be so good, not to apply blood and sweat and tears, their imagination running riot after Sharpeville, necessarily to that word when I use it in a sense which is applicable to the investment of money in particular areas of separate development. "Apartheid" is a word that is now torn apart across the world and between the political parties. It is a great pity that that is so.

I was very surprised by the speech of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister this evening. I had not realised that he felt so deeply about developments in South Africa. He used phraseology which is new for the Government. After this break with South Africa, he seems to have thought it right to be even more trenchant in his criticism of the politics and philosophy of that great country than he has ever been in the past, either in 481 this House, at party conferences, in the United Nations or, so far as I know, anywhere else.

I was very surprised and rather shocked by the strength of the Prime Minister's speech this evening. It was very different from the speech which he delivered a year or so ago, when he went to South Africa, the famous "wind of change" speech. It was the "wind of change" speech which began the unpleasant process from which we have recently suffered.

The Government have mishandled this great issue on several counts. First, they have led the world to believe that there was great harm even in the positive sides of what the South African Government are attempting. Secondly, they have done nothing positive to assist South Africa at the bar of public opinion all over the world. Thirdly, they have mishandled it through not appreciating that the issue of continuance of the Commonwealth should be presented in such a way as to help the South Africans.

The Prime Minister undoubtedly began this when he used the words in the "wind of change" speech. The wide context in which he spoke and the phraseology he used all pointed to the fact that he was beginning a process of condemnation of South Africa. He used certain words, however, notably the phrase about "Mind your own business, but mind how it affects my business, too"—I think that that is the exact form of the words he used—which could be taken from then on by members of the Commonwealth as an excuse and reason and an endorsement of the desire to indulge in the process of destructive mutual criticism.

Hitherto, the Commonwealth had never attempted anything of the kind. It has been held together by a belief that it should stand back to back, facing the world outwards, defending itself, increasing its power and influence and keeping its internal processes as quietly arranged and quietly discussed as possible. Now, unfortunately, members of the Commonwealth have turned right about to face each other and are criticising each other with their backs to the rest of the world. I do not know how long an institution that behaves like that can possibly continue. My first charge, therefore, is that the process of disintegration 482 started with the ill-fated tour by the Prime Minister to Africa last year.

Secondly, I do not think that the Government have done all that they should to help South Africa explain at the bar of public opinion the positive sides of apartheid—and there are positive sides of apartheid which can be defended. We have only to look at the behaviour of our own country and other countries of the Commonwealth to see that there are many aspects of the beneficial side of separate development inside South Africa which are applicable to us, as well, and to other members of the Commonwealth.

We are very lucky that our black Colonies are 5,000 or 10,000 miles away. There are some black Colonies from which labour in this country is willingly recruited. Now, we are beginning to wonder whether that should continue. We are not faced with anything like the same problem as faces South Africa, with enormous forces of primitive Bantu virtually across a few hundred miles of arid country, swelling into the centres of civilisation on the enticement of a high standard of living. We are not faced with those things in this country. There are people in this country who think that we may be faced with them unless we do something to stop immigration from the Caribbean.

There is a certain hypocrisy in the attitude of Britain towards these problems, based on an unfortunate situation in which propaganda has been sedulously built up and engineered for highly-charged political reasons. I think that the Government have been in a position throughout in which they could have groped for the truth, cast aside the mischievous propaganda that was created by others and found out in their heart whether what they were doing themselves and what they were allowing other countries of the Commonwealth and Empire to do was not in some way the same sort of thing as South Africa is compelled to do.

I say, therefore, that the Government have neglected their duty of going out and finding the truth and helping their great ally in two world wars and their partner in the Commonwealth to defend herself.

Thirdly, the Government have not arranged the mechanics of the situation very intelligently. South Africa's case is not governed by precedent. It is the only member of the Commonwealth 483 which is technically put out of that position by a change of status and wishes to return to it. The other members, India, Pakistan, Ceylon were all previously parts of the India Office or the Colonial Office system, were given their independence, and were, therefore, put in the position of asking for the first time whether they might be members of the Commonwealth.

South Africa was an old-established—the fourth established—member of the Commonwealth. She changed her status, and the Government, I think stupidly, applied those precedents to her and allowed her to go out and then make her application to return. We all know it is much easier if one is a member of a club to remain in it. It needs a general resolution of the committee, if not a special general m