the House.
- 4.33 p.m.
Mr. A. G. Bottomley (Middlesbrough, East) My right hon. Friend the Member for Dundee, West, (Mr. Strachey), who was to have led for us on this side of the House, cannot, unfortunately, be present. The other day, quite rightly, he congratulated the First Secretary on his timely success at the conference at Victoria Falls to consider the future of the Central African Federation. We can all agree this afternoon that the right hon. Gentleman has created the right spirit. Good will operated at the conference, and we can only hope that it will continue. But my right hon. Friend did say that the conference was the easier part 1443 of the problem. The more difficult part, the future of Southern Rhodesia, lies ahead.
We have no cause for jubilation today. The hope of the world lies in the unity of nations, and anything which brings about the fragmentation of territories is a retrograde step. But, if nations are to federate, they must do so willingly and in a spirit of co-operation. This might have been possible in the Federation if it had not been for the bungling of the Conservative Government. The First Secretary of State must accept his share of the responsibility for this. I was a member of the Labour Government which initiated the Federation in Central Africa. The Africans willingly attended the first conference, and preparations were made for further discussions.
Mr. Jeremy Thorpe (Devon, North) No.
Mr. Bottomley Yes, they willingly attended the first conference.
Mr. Thorpe' Is it not within the right hon. Gentleman's recollection that there was no African present representing Southern Rhodesia at the Victoria Falls conference, and is it not within his recollection that the two right hon. Members who visited the three territories received overwhelming evidence of opposition on the part of the Africans at that time?
Mr. Bottomley It may be that, at the beginning, there were some objections, but, after explanations—I repeat—those who were able willingly came to the conference. I shall have something to say about Southern Rhodesia. That is an unfortunate incident and, perhaps, we can deal with it in general debate, when we talk about the actions of the Southern Rhodesian Government not only then, but today. I repeat that they subsequently came to the conference willingly and took part. They were ready to come for further discussions. On the part of the Government of that day there was certainly no intention to push through federation without African co-operation.
There was then a change of Government here and, in 1951, the Conservative Government, in spite of the Africans not coming to the conference and not co-operating, pushed through legislation and brought about the Federation. In those 1444 circumstances, it was inevitable that we should have the situation which is presented to us today, with the Federation itself coming to an end.
Last December, Her Majesty's Government were forced to allow Nyasaland to secede from the Federation. Last March, when, as a concession to Northern Rhodesia, permission was given for any of the three territories of the original Federation to secede, the Federation virtually came to an end. Nyasaland had had the right to secede granted. There was an African majority in the Government of Northern Rhodesia who had no wish to continue to participate in the Federation. For his part, Mr. Winston Field preferred Southern Rhodesia to be free of any ties with the emerging African States. This left the Federal Prime Minister, Sir Roy Welensky, supported by a few back-bench Members of this House and some Members of the other place, to keep up the fight for the Federation.
I do not know whether we shall hear anything from hon. Members today about this. Possibly, Lord Poole has said"Keep quiet" in order to avoid further disarray in the Conservative Party. Anyhow, one can feel sympathy for Sir Roy Welensky. He had a right to be furious with right hon. Gentlemen opposite. To use his own words, he said that the
