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Ms Keeble: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising the issue of private school fees, because the Zimbabwean Government have also increased state school fees. Does he agree that they should examine their polices for educating children?

Mr. Bellingham: The hon. Lady is absolutely right, and I agree with her 100 per cent. The House has reached a consensus this afternoon, and one encouraging aspect of the debate is that few of the disagreements that would have arisen a few years back have come up today.

What more can Her Majesty's Government do? I agree with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram), who rightly states that not enough has been done. On smart sanctions, the net should be widened to cover the children and relations of the 79 people who have been targeted already. Indeed, if a small country such as New Zealand can target 140 individual Zimbabweans, why can Europe not target more than 79?

What about the business associates of the regime who come to this country? The hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) mentioned the governor of the Zimbabwean central bank, who came here with impunity. That man has blood on his hands and is closely connected to the regime, so why is he not on the list of smart sanctions?

Mr. Mullin: The EU sanctions list includes 95, not 79, people.

Mr. Bellingham: I am grateful to the Minister for putting me right. I got the figure of 79 from an e-mail from someone in Zimbabwe, but it is clearly out of date. I am glad that it has been extended, but it is still far short of the figure of 140 that was targeted by the New Zealand Government.

On next year's elections, I entirely agree with the hon. Member for Vauxhall that it is vital that international monitors are put in place well in advance. The hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey suggested that an eminent persons' delegation should go out to
 
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Zimbabwe as soon as possible to prepare the way for a proper monitoring process to oversee those elections. That is a good idea.

One of the recent by-elections took place in the seat that fell vacant on the death of Vice-President Simon Muzenda. When one considers the catalogue of abuses and outright criminal events that occurred in the run-up to that by-election, it is staggering that the Movement for Democratic Change managed to get any votes at all. In fact, its candidate ran the ZANU-PF candidate very close, despite the raiding and firebombing of its offices and the removal from the register of the names of some 7,000 of its supporters. In the event, the winner, Air Chief Marshal Josiah Tungimirai, polled only 1,000 more votes than the MDC candidate. That shows the level at which abuse of the electoral process is still going on; it is therefore vital that independent observers are put in place in very good time.

As we have heard, South Africa has a pivotal role to play in this, and I believe that it needs to have pressure put on it by the United States. Many US companies are based in South Africa and a huge amount of US aid goes into the country. South Africa's locus is pivotal, and I would have thought that the US could use its position to address that fact. South Africa can also play a role in increasing the number of targeted non-trade sanctions that could be effective against Zimbabwe. I agree with the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey that we can make more imaginative use of our position in the G8 to ensure that Zimbabwe is right at the top of the agenda.

On cricket, I agree with the comments of other hon. Members; indeed, I intervened on my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Devizes to that effect. The cricket world accepted South Africa for many years, despite the apartheid regime and abuse of human rights in that country, on the basis that the team was selected on fair grounds. But when the South African Government intervened directly in the English team selection of Basil d'Oliveira after he made his brilliant 158 not out at the Oval in the last test of the series, and the British Government were told that he would not be acceptable as a tourist in an English cricket team, we pulled out of that tour and sporting sanctions were applied to South Africa.

What we are seeing now is outright racism against the Zimbabwe cricket team. As the hon. Member for Vauxhall pointed out, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union is an adjunct to the Mugabe politburo, and racism is involved in the selection of players. The situation has got completely out of control. I sometimes despair at the supine attitude of the International Cricket Council. As the hon. Lady said, the Government must take more interest and start to get a bit tougher. It is no good their saying that it is entirely a private matter for the England and Wales Cricket Board, then standing back and doing nothing whatsoever about it.

The Prime Minister said, in his great speech at the party conference three years ago, that he would

"make Africa a major personal priority and a priority for the Labour Government."

Several suggestions have been made today about how he could ensure action on that. I strongly believe that the Prime Minister will be judged on progress in Zimbabwe.

I should like the Under-Secretary to consider an issue that is not on everyone's radar screen. He knows that a British subject, Simon Mann, was arrested in Zimbabwe
 
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a few weeks ago for suspected mercenary activity. He went to Zimbabwe approximately a month before he was arrested, held meetings with Zimbabwe Defence Industries and put in an order for various weapons, mainly hand guns. Zimbabwe Defence Industries led him to believe that he was allowed to purchase those weapons but he was arrested a month later. Of course, I do not condone what has been happening—Simon Mann is normally well able to look himself—but he is in prison in Zimbabwe. He has apparently been tortured and starved. He is a British citizen and the Government should take a close interest in his basic human rights. I ask the Under-Secretary to consider that carefully.

I am worried that, after the expression of severe anger, marching and demonstrations by those who oppose the Government in Zimbabwe, people have turned to despair. To some extent, they have been paralysed into inaction. The demonstrations have stopped and there is a terrible fear of violence, torture and terror. Many good people in Zimbabwe have been crippled by despair and are sitting back and saying that they can do no more.

I conclude with a quote from a marvellous book, "Beyond Tears", by Cathy Buckle, which alludes to a Nazi victim in 1945:

"First they came for the Jews

and I did not speak out

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists

and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists

and I did not speak out

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left

to speak out for me."

We have spoken out in the House this afternoon. The Government must do their bit and speak out for the people of Zimbabwe.

4.52 pm

Mr. Kelvin Hopkins (Luton, North) (Lab): I shall speak briefly. I have a great sense of deference to all the other hon. Members who spoke today because they are clearly more closely involved with Zimbabwe than I am, although I feel strongly about it, and I do not pretend to have their extensive knowledge of or contact with the country. However, I want to make some specific points.

I do not defer to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth) and his description of modern African history. Both sides in the cold war used Africa as a place where they had surrogates to fight that war. One could go through almost every country in Africa and find some mischief by right and left. For example, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary helpfully mentioned Mobutu and events after the murder of Lumumba. The Congo has experienced possibly the worst violence of the past 10 years. Approximately 3.5 million people have died, yet that has hardly registered on western political screens.

We have to be consistent in our view of what goes on in the world and treat terrible regimes and events with equal dislike and action. We cannot single out one
 
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specific regime because we feel more strongly about it for various reasons. Events in the Congo, where 3.5 million people died, have been especially appalling. Several Congolese refugees have come to my constituency and I know from them what has been happening there.

Idi Amin in Uganda was the west's preferred dictator. When he replaced Milton Obote, it was perceived to be beneficial to the west. What he did thereafter was quite appalling, and the only benefit for this country was that the Indian population was driven out of Uganda and many of them came to Britain. They have made a fantastic contribution to our society ever since. Many in my constituency—and, indeed, in my birthplace, Leicester—have made a great contribution. Idi Amin's was, however, an appalling regime with which the west acquiesced, because he was seen as the west's preferred kind of dictator at the time. We have to be consistent, however: we must condemn all appalling regimes and do everything we can to try to overcome them and replace them with democratic and civilised regimes.

I have a number of Zimbabwean refugees in my constituency, several of whom are connected with or active in the Movement for Democratic Change. Some are active politicians, but I will not mention their names, for obvious reasons. I have been pressing the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) to be more agreeable to allowing their families to obtain visas to come to Britain, because those politicians feel that, although they are prepared to risk their own safety and their own lives, they do not want to risk the safety or the lives of their families.

Those politicians' families are being intimidated, harassed and threatened, and if we could be more amenable to allowing them at least to take temporary refuge in Britain until the present regime in Zimbabwe has gone and there has been a return to a more democratic and civilised society, it would free those politicians and activists in the MDC to become more active and to feel less intimidated than they are at the moment. We heard from the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) that some of them have been cowed to the extent that they are no longer as challenging as they might be. I want to see Zimbabwe return to the path of democracy and freedom, but with the Opposition there so cowed, might we have to wait until Mugabe dies? Even then, some of his henchpeople might carry on if they held sufficient power.

We need to see some opposition in Zimbabwe, and we must do what we can to support the MDC activists and politicians. If that means helping them by allowing more of their families to come to Britain, at least temporarily until the Mugabe regime disappears, we ought to do that. I have had correspondence with my hon. Friend the Minister about this, and I have met him to discuss a particular case. I hope that he will take note that I still feel strongly, not only about that case but about all the people who are suffering similarly in Zimbabwe. If we can help in the manner that I have described, it might help to engender more active opposition there, because people will feel freer and less threatened and fearful for
 
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their families, even though they are brave enough to stand up on their own behalf. I urge my hon. Friend to give serious thought to what I have said.

4.57 pm

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