Mr Roland Robinson: asked the Secretary of Stat; for the Colonies the result of his inquiries into the reasons for the ban on entry into Kenya of the hon. Member for Torquay (Mr. F. M. Bennett) to attend the independence celebrations
Mr Roland Robinson: To clear up one of the uncertainties of this case, may I ask my hon. Friend to give the date on which, without reason, this ban, which has been so strongly deplored on both sides of the House, was imposed?
Mr Roland Robinson: Can my hon. Friend say whether the dockyard is overstaffed?
Mr Roland Robinson: I know that a great many of my hon. Friends wish to take part in the debate, so, with that in mind, I propose to make my own intervention a short one. Having listened to the hon. Member for Leeds, East (Mr. Healey), I wish to go on record as saying that I and, I believe, all my hon. and right hon. Friends have the greatest confidence in the First Secretary in his handling of the situation in...
Mr Roland Robinson: That was not the argument I used. I was pointing out that, while Her Majesty's Government said that there was no specific pledge on this matter, it was extraordinary that the hon. Gentleman, whose policy it is to say that there should be no pledge of that kind, should seek to establish that there was one. That is all. In fairness, the hon. Gentleman should take his mind back to 1953, to the...
Mr Roland Robinson: I repeat that the great surge of African nationalism was not foreseen by those who were sitting round the table forming the Federation at the time. They did not see the great growth of the Afro-Asian group in the United Nations and all the influence which goes with it. Things have changed so radically that, even if any pledges were given, they would be utterly unrealistic today and impossible...
Mr Roland Robinson: Is my right hon. Friend aware that, in addition to the good will and support which he has in this important matter from both sides of the House, people throughout the Commonwealth will be grateful for his initiative in bringing India and Pakistan together? Will he undertake that his good offices will be available at all times should the parties desire them?
Mr Roland Robinson: TO ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will now make a statement about the operations of the Colonial Development Corporation in newly independent Commonwealth countries.
Mr Roland Robinson: Does my right hon. Friend appreciate that what he has said will be welcomed by hon. Members on both sides who have pressed this point for a long time, and that it will be particularly appreciated in the three countries about to become independent, namely, Jamaica, Trinidad and Uganda?
Mr Roland Robinson: asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Central African Office) whether he has appointed his advisers who are to visit Central Africa and examine the problems of the future relationships between the territories.
Mr Roland Robinson: Can my right hon. Friend say when his advisers will be going to Central Africa?
Mr Roland Robinson: I am sure that the hon. and gallant Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Commander Pursey) will not expect me to follow him in his interesting historical review of naval pensions. I found it interesting to go back with him to the Crimean War and to learn that people then thought in terms of farthings, halfpennies and pennies, but I can truthfully say that the whole thinking of the House and...
Mr Roland Robinson: While welcoming the Prime Minister's statement—[Laughter.]—as an indication of unity and of purpose in this important field, may I ask him to deal with two points for clarification? First, what is the position of the Protectorates? Do they still look to the Colonial Office for their protection? Secondly, will the Government—[Interruption.]
Mr Roland Robinson: Secondly, will the Governors of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland have direct access to Her Majesty through the Home Secretary?
Mr Roland Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is proposed to amend the provision in the Kenya (Constitution) Order in Council which disqualifies persons who have undergone a sentence of two years or more imprisonment from standing as candidates for election to the Kenya Legislature.
Mr Roland Robinson: Bearing in mind the inevitability of this statement, following Mr. Kenyatta's release in August, can my right hon. Friend say whether, as has been suggested in some quarters, any secret understanding was reached on this or any other matter with Mr. Kenyatta and the K.A.N.A. delegation which visited this country a couple of weeks ago?
Mr Roland Robinson: I rise briefly to support the Bill and to join hon. Members on both sides of the House in giving our good wishes to Tanganyika, so soon to be independent. All those hon. Members who have had the good fortune to visit that country like the country and like its people. There are few among new countries which have built up such a reservoir of good will here and throughout the free world among...
Mr Roland Robinson: I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows: Most Gracious Sovereign,We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty for the Gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament This...
Mr Roland Robinson: asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will make a statement about the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held in London later this year.
Mr Roland Robinson: The House has listened with very great interest to the speech of the right hon. Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Bellenger), and I think that I can fairly say that we all have a great deal of sympathy with him in the position in which he has been so unfortunately placed. I think that I speak for my hon. Friends as well as for myself when I say that we have no doubt at all of his integrity, or the...
