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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Chris Mullin): We have had a good debate, in which thoughtful and sensible points were made by Members on both sides of the House, who described graphically the penury to which that once prosperous country has been reduced. My hon. Friends the Members for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) and for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) both have first-hand experience of Zimbabwe, having visited it fairly recently.
There is, of course, no significant difference between the parties. Members on both sides of the House want a return to democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, and we all want effective international measures to achieve that end. We all agree—at least I think we do—that such measures should be carefully targeted so as not to make the lives of the ordinary, innocent citizens of Zimbabwe, who, goodness knows, have suffered enough, any more difficult than they already are. Where there is perhaps a difference—and I should like to address this at the outset—is over the suggestion that Britain should take unilateral action against Zimbabwe and its Government. [Hon. Members: "Who said that?"] If hon. Gentlemen would contain themselves—
Mr. Bellingham: It is difficult to do so when the Minister makes such remarks.
Mr. Mullin: It is not at all difficult to contain oneself, is it Mr. Deputy Speaker?
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Michael Lord): Order. We must not have sedentary interventions that turn the debate into a general conversation. If Members wish to intervene, they should do so in the usual way.
Mr. Mullin: Admirably put, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
As I said, if there is a difference between us—perhaps there is not—it concerns the suggestion that Britain should act unilaterally against Zimbabwe and its Government. If only we did so, ZANU-PF would suddenly come out with its hands up, and everything would be all right. I am afraid that life is not like that.
Mr. Spring: Where does the suggestion of unilateral action to which the Minister alluded come from? No one in the Chamber this afternoon has suggested that the United Kingdom take unilateral action, so I do not understand what he is talking about.
Mr. Mullin:
Members have spoken today about adding names to lists and so on. The suggestion has certainly been made in the past, and Government
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Members have attended many debates on Zimbabwe in Westminster Hall where demands for unilateral action have been made.
From the outset, the Government have taken the view that if we are to be effective we must act in concert with our friends and allies in the international community. [Interruption.] Well, if we do not disagree, that is fine, but that is a revelation to me, as I have been under the impression for some time that some Members have a different view about what should be done.
Kate Hoey: For the sake of clarity, it is important that the Minister differentiate between calls for unilateral action and the UK taking a lead in trying to move things forward. That is completely different from what he has suggested.
Mr. Mullin: Offering leadership is exactly what we have been doing. Working through the EU, we have agreed a Europe-wide arms embargo, an assets freeze and a travel ban on leading members of the regime. The list of those subject to the assets freeze and travel ban is reviewed every year and, as hon. Members will know, this year it was extended from 79 to 95 names. We are always willing to consider new names when the list comes up for review. A number of hon. Members have made suggestions which we will certainly bear in mind.
We also work closely with the American Government, who have a similar policy, and at Abuja last year we worked with our friends in the Commonwealth to ensure that Mugabe remains suspended, despite pressure from some quarters that he should be readmitted to the Commonwealth. In fact, he chose to withdraw Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. That was his choice, not ours. For our part, we look forward to welcoming a democratic Zimbabwe back into the Commonwealth in due course.
We make no apology for that approach. We believe it to be the right one. Yes, it has its frustrations. Yes, it is sometimes necessary to compromise, but at the end of the day it is far more effective than the alternative. Those who advocate a unilateral approach need to recognise, first, that they risk placing in jeopardy the carefully constructed international consensus on Zimbabwe, and secondly, that a unilateral approach would play straight into the hands of Mugabe and his cronies, who would like nothing better than to portray the situation as a dispute between themselves and the former colonial power.
I draw the attention of the House to an article by the journalist Andrew Meldrum that appeared recently in The Spectator. Mr. Meldrum wrote:
"Mr. Mugabe is impervious to criticism from Britain."
In its most recent report on South Africa the Foreign Affairs Committee reached a similar conclusion. It said:
"The United Kingdom's status as the former colonial power in Zimbabwe makes any attempt to influence the situation in the country on a purely bilateral basis very difficult."
Hon. Members should bear that in mind when urging us to add names bilaterally to our travel ban list or to act unilaterally against sporting tours. Far from hurting Mugabe and ZANU-PF, we could play into his hands.
It is an unhappy fact that although Mr. Mugabe and his cronies have not proved, to put it mildly, very successful at feeding their own people or managing their
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economy, they have proved surprisingly successful at convincing some of their fellow African leaders, even some of the more enlightened ones, that the main cause of their difficulties is a dispute over the land rights of a handful of white farmers. Naturally, we rebut such nonsense wherever we come across it, but it is a factor that we have to take into account in our dealings with other African states. Opposition Members would do well to bear that in mind when sounding off in public on the subject. What plays well in certain parts of the home counties does not necessarily go down well in the places that matter if we are to achieve peaceful change in Zimbabwe.
Let me deal with some of the specific points raised by hon. Members.
Mr. Mullin: If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I have only a short time left and I was about to address the points that he made in his impressive speech. He suggested that as a matter of course we should always make representations to the Zimbabwean ambassador in London. He has slightly greater faith than I have in the efficacy of representations to that gentleman, but our high commission in Harare regularly makes representations on all the issues that both the hon. Gentleman and I care about, and the Foreign Office regularly issues statements underlining the Government's position.
The hon. Gentleman said, and the hon. Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring) said as well, that we should always be frank with our African friends. I agree, and we are.
Mr. Mullin: Yes, we are, in public. I shall come to that in a moment. In the course of my year in this job, I have bent the ear, on the subject of Zimbabwe, of just about every President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, high commissioner and ambassador of an African country who has passed through my office or whose office I have passed through, and my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have done the same when meeting African statesmen.
In South Africa last year—it attracted a little bit of publicity—I said publicly, exactly as I think the hon. Member for West Suffolk would want me to say, that there is no point in African Governments signing up to lofty sentiments about democracy and the rule of law if, the first time a hard case like Zimbabwe comes along, they bury their heads in the sand. I have said that publicly repeatedly, including in South Africa, and I would be grateful if the hon. Gentleman acknowledged that we are doing some of the things that he would like us to do.
The speech of the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) contained the usual quota of irrelevant huffing and puffing, but at the end it contained a number of serious suggestions.
The right hon. and learned Gentleman suggested SADC norms for elections, and we agree with him. Discussions with SADC are ongoing on that point. He talked about getting the UN and SADC to monitor free
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and fair elections, and we agree. We want the UN there, and we are talking to it about that, but it needs to be invited, and only the other day the regime threw out the UN crop assessment team, so we should not be under any illusion about the practicalities of that. He called for the repeal of some oppressive laws, and we agree with him on that. But we cannot change Zimbabwe's laws; it has to do that itself. He called for a travel ban on business men bankrolling the regime. If he or anyone else has evidence of particular business men bankrolling the regime, we would be prepared to consider that and add their names to the travel ban and asset freeze list. He talked about moving a resolution at the Security Council even if it meant defeat, but we do not think that would be a good idea. He asked about US companies involved in a maize-for tobacco-deal. We are aware of the allegations and we understand that the US State Department is investigating whether the sanctions have been breached.
The hon. Member for West Suffolk asked about the EU and the Court of Auditors. I understand that the figures used in the report were purely speculative notional savings, that the real amount affected was small, and that no humanitarian aid was involved since all purchases were made outside Zimbabwe. In any case, the problem no longer exists since the parallel exchange rates no longer exist.
The hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore) asked what estimate we had made of the effectiveness of the existing measures. The arms embargo we judge to be effective. For example, reports show that the Zimbabwe air force's Hawks are grounded, presumably for lack of spare parts. The travel ban has undoubtedly proved a problem for leading members of the regime and has also inflicted some ignominy on them. The assets freeze has had only limited success; the amount of money frozen is relatively small. If we could find more, we would freeze it. However, the arms embargo, the travel ban and the assets freeze are more effective for being Europe-wide rather than bilateral.
The International Cricket Council has this afternoon confirmed that Zimbabwe will not play in test matches this year, but will continue to play the one-day cricket, so its position has not changed. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made it clear that we will not ban people from playing cricket here or British citizens from playing cricket in Zimbabwe. At the end of the day, it is a matter for individuals and for the cricketing authorities. Whether British cricketers tour Zimbabwe is a matter for them. The Government have made it clear that we would prefer them not to go. We have said that repeatedly. [Interruption.] No, we will not put a unilateral ban on British citizens going to play cricket. In this country we have freedom of travel.
I am aware that I have not been able to deal with a number of points in the short time available, and I will write to those hon. Members whose queries I have not addressed and I apologise for not reaching their points. I hope that it is clear from what my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have said today that Zimbabwe is a high priority for the Government. Far from dragging our feet, as some have alleged, we are in the forefront of international efforts to achieve a return to democracy. Outside Britain—dare I say it, outside Wiltshire—that is widely recognised. Mr. Mugabe has
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certainly noticed, even if the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes has not. Alongside our friends in the international community we will continue to work for the return of democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe, and in the meantime we will continue to do what we can to relieve the suffering of those in need. The ZANU-PF nightmare will not last forever and when the end comes we will be in the forefront of efforts to rebuild that tragic and beautiful country.
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