Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 8:30 pm on 12 February 1991.
Ann Clwyd
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
8:30,
12 February 1991
Before I give my support to the Bill on Third Reading, let me ask the Minister one or two questions following our Second Reading debate last week.
In her reply to that debate, the Minister for Overseas Development talked about Walvis bay. Do the Government envisage the "early" reintegration of Walvis bay into Namibia taking place before the end of this year? Will Namibia's 12 offshore islands be included, and what sort of encouragement—the Minister's word—will the Government bring to bear on South Africa to relinquish its invalid territorial claim to Walvis bay?
What did the Minister for Overseas Development mean when she said that the Government would help the Namibian Government to tackle the problem of inherited debt, estimated at 800 million rand, which South Africa illegally imposed on the country before independence? Surely in international law the debt belongs to the South African reserve bank which, in turn, owes Namibia a large sum of accumulated foreign currency. Will the Minister support in principle the renunciation of the entire illegal debt?
We appreciate that development projects in education, agriculture and fisheries take time to plan, but does the Minister agree that the Government have been a bit slow off the mark—especially in agriculture and fisheries, given that other countries are already helping to drill bore holes, dig wells, train coastguards, provide seed and research fish stocks?
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.