Mr Harold Soref: asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to improve immigration control at Immingham and other ports.
Mr Harold Soref: I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Would he concede that the events which took place at Immingham when the "ink woman" managed to enter this country after three abortive attempts—and it was only because of the Press publicity and Press conference that she was held—show the lack of security at ports and particularly at Immingham?
Mr Harold Soref: I am sure the right hon. Member for Anglesey (Mr. Cledwyn Hughes) will forgive me if, because of the pressure of time, I do not refer to his speech. I should like to thank you for calling me Mr. Deputy Speaker because I have had a lifetime's association with Rhodesia and I last visited that country this year. I have listened to almost the entire debate and I have found it bedevilled by the...
Mr Harold Soref: Will my right hon. Friend tell the House what communications he has had with the Rhodesian Prime Minister—
Mr Harold Soref: —concerning the Wankie Colliery disaster in which 431 miners lost their lives, and to what extent this country is offering aid and assistance to the bereaved?
Mr Harold Soref: It was not my intention to intervene in the debate, but having an interest in this matter from day-to-day activities with the under-developed countries, and having heard the political content of the speeches of the right hon. Lady the Member for Lanark (Mrs. Hart) and the hon. Member for Portsmouth, West (Mr. Judd), I believe that we should come back to business realities. We were told by the...
Mr Harold Soref: In reply to the right hon. Lady, I say that there are firms in this country which, because they have generously invested in and provided employment for the Third World, have suffered acutely. One confirming house after another in the City of London has gone bankrupt because it has provided generous facilities over the years building up unstable commercial undertakings in West and East Africa....
Mr Harold Soref: I am sure that the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, West (Mr. James Johnson) will forgive me if I do not follow what he said. I agree with his hon. Friend who said that whatever hon. Members may say about it, the provision of overseas aid is distinctly unpopular in the country. On this subject I hold a view which is different from that which has been expressed so far. I believe that there...
Mr Harold Soref: It was built to a large extent by the shipping industry. The City of Liverpool grew up also because of all sorts of factories and developments which were no reflection either on Liverpool or on those who lived there. I believe that the money which goes in aid year by year, which equals the entire surtax collection at present and which also equals the amount spent on all British universities,...
Mr Harold Soref: It was reported in The Guardian yesterday or the day before that the system of distribution of goods in Chile by such British firms as Balfour Williamson, which have now been nationalised, worked admirably until the nationalisation and expropriation. Until there are adequate safeguards and protection for British interests, we should not give more money from British taxpayers. We should also...
Mr Harold Soref: America has been extremely generous in the aid she has given from the Marshall Plan onwards. Whether the total figure as a GNP percentage is more or less than ours, I am not certain. It could be less, but America has shown unparalleled generosity. In America there is an increasing and widespread public demand to reduce the figure. As long as the undeveloped countries have economies which are...
Mr Harold Soref: asked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications what is the average time taken for delivery of express inland letters.
Mr Harold Soref: I am sure my right hon. Friend will acknowledge that, whereas formerly it was reasonable to anticipate the arrival of all inland post at its destination the following morning, since the creation of the two-tier system at an inflated price this has become increasingly infrequent. People who wish to make certain that their post arrives have no option but the express post. On two successive...
Mr Harold Soref: Is my right hon. Friend aware that mail posted from the House of Commons by express mail to Ormskirk, at a surcharge of 20p, has on two successive occasions in the past month still not arrived by first post next morning?
Mr Harold Soref: In view of the special pleading for Mr. Nkomo and the Rev. Sithole from hon. Members opposite, may I ask whether my right hon. Friend recalls the word of Mr. Nkomo in 1961: I will not rest until the rivers of the Zimbabwe run red with the blood of every white man, woman and child and every African who supports them"? Also, will he confirm that the Rev. Sithole was found guilty of plotting to...
Mr Harold Soref: While in no way wishing to contradict the opening remarks of my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary, who said that this was not a controversial Bill, I suggest that the subject of Sierra Leone is a controversial matter because in Commonwealth Africa there is probably no other regime outside Zanzibar which has a more cruel administration in recent times. In recording that it is the last ex-British...
Mr Harold Soref: In the recent history of Sierra Leone which has resulted in Mr. Stevens bringing in Marxist revolutionaries—
Mr Harold Soref: I suggest that the introduction of alien Communist troops from Guinea into a Commonwealth country is hardly a friendly action. The result has been that none of the armed forces or the police of Sierra Leone is armed. The only people who have ammunition are the alien Guinean troops.
Mr Harold Soref: In supporting the Bill it is necessary to have a realisation of what is happening. I believe that if this were a white administration in Africa there would be a very different appreciation of the situation. The fact remains that large numbers of politicians who were loyal to the British Monarch were incarcerated by Mr. Stevens and the gaol became known as the "Queen's Hotel". We have heard...
Mr Harold Soref: I am sure that the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, West (Mr. James Johnson) will forgive me if I do not spend too much time dealing with his remarks. He referred to the halcyon days of Sir Edgar Whitehead whom he described as a fine liberal man. He will recall that during the time Sir Edgar was Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia there were 4,000 people detained in camps there as the hon....
