1105
[Mr. Davis]
Dependent Territories
15 APRIL 1983
Indeed, in the debate on the subject, the Minister eschewed that prospect. There are no real incentives for people there or those who may be invited to go there to have a stake in the land, and the recent offers by the Falklands Islands Company are at best derisory.
The Government stance in relation to the Falklands shows no real purpose or common sense in the long term. Of course there is a difficulty in engaging in a dialogue with Argentina so long as it refuses to renounce the use of force and continues to pose a threat to the Falklands. For that very reason, we should be looking for alternatives. We should be considering how to engage the support of democratic countries in Latin America to help us to work out a solution other than the fortress Falklands policy. How can we encourage other EC countries which provided great help during the crisis but are becoming singularly disenchanted with our present stance? The same applies to Commonwealth countries, which played a distinguished part in giving support at the material time.
At present, all those countries see merely an unyielding stance by the British Government, with no wish to consider the possibility of a United Nations trusteeship. Such a solution might not work, but at least we should be seen to consider the possibility. If the Government say that all that is beyond possibility so soon after the fighting, they should consider the fact that in recent weeks and months they have supported the beleaguered Argentine economy through the IMF and concerted in the provision of additional weaponry for Argentina. In those circum- stances, it is hypocritical to say the least to argue that nothing other than fortress Falklands can possibly be considered for the time being.
The difficult and delicate issue of Gibraltar has also rightly engaged the attention of the House. The situation has changed radically since a democratic Government was elected in Spain. We must be sensitive to the fact that Spain has a burgeoning but still fragile democracy. It is a fledgling democracy and there are still people in Spain, especially the military, who hanker after the past and who would like a return to a Franco-style Fascist totalitarian state. Today, unlike the past, when Franco's Spain aided and abetted the Nazis, Spain is our friend and ally. We are trying to secure her full involvement in NATO and she will probably join the EC. Some progress was made with the limited opening of the border between Spain and Gibraltar. That was an encouraging sign but, regrettably, little has been built on it.
The Government should be deeplyanxious to ensure that they do nothing that will endanger democracy in Spain. They must, therefore, avoid provocative actions which could play some part in undermining the democratic forces which currently represent the Government of Spain. I am not persuaded that it was essential to send HMS Invincible to Gibraltar as part of a naval exercise. I am not persuaded that that consideration was more important than the avoidance of something which was bound to be seen by Spain as deeply offensive and provocative. The explanations for that which we have so far been given by the Foreign Secretary have been desperately unconvincing.
We must recognise that Spain is not Argentina. It is not like Argentina and it is not a dictatorship. Talk such as we heard from the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton) he is not here today-on the radio recently
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about giving Spain a bloody nose if it threatens Gibraltar, is completely unhelpful. Some of that spirit has been. engendered today, but happily not in quite the same terms. If Spain fully joins NATO, there must be some form of Spanish presence on the Rock or affecting the Rock. Things are changing. There are factors which are in massive conflict with each other and which we must resolve in a sensible and civilised dialogue. The first is that every Spaniard believes that Gibraltar is a colony which is unable to sustain itself and that it is an anachronism. No one who takes a reasonably objective approach would consider that Spain's claim to Gibraltar is utterly fanciful and entirely unreasonable.
The second factor is that Gibraltar is the home of 20,000 people. No British Government, whether Labour or Conservative, could simply discard commitments that have been solemly made to those people over a long time. Those are the two apparently irreconcilable factors. However, time creates different circumstances.
Our guiding principle must be the frame of mind of the Gibraltarians. It must, therefore, be for Spain, as her democracy extends and it is hoped, the tension diminishes, to persuade Gibraltarians that their anxieties are misplaced and can be dispelled. If the Spanish do that, the Gibraltarians' views could change. I do not believe that that is altogether likely but it is possible. Certainly I do not believe that it is sensible for us to say that under no "circumstances will sovereignty be yielded. It must be a
matter for the determination of the Gibraltarians.
We can engage in a reasonable and realistic dialogue with Spain provided that both we and Spain try to lower the temperature and do not engage in provocative actions. I hope that that would be the stance of the next Labour Government, and even of this Government, but I am a little doubtful about that and I cannot help thinking that the Prime Minister may have had something to do with the decision to send Invincible to Gibraltar. It was an insane decision, having regard to what is at stake for Gibraltar, Spain and Britain.
1.20 pm
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The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Cranley Onslow): This has been an interesting debate, and the House is grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Mr. Stanbrook) for giving us an opportunity to talk about a wide range of subjects far too many for me to answer now, and some of which do not lie within the responsibilities of my Department. But if I cannot answer any substantial points now, I shall do so in writing, and my colleagues in other Departments will have taken note of what has been said. I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington understands and accepts that the Government are fully committed to the policy followed by successive Governments since 1945 of giving every help and encouragement to those dependent territories that wish to become independent, while not forcing independence on those which do not wish it. He complained about the answer that I gave him the other day, but his paraphrasing of my reply did not preserve its precision. If he had wanted a different answer he should have asked a different question. The Government's policy is fully in accord with our obligations under the United Nations charter, especially article 73, and wherever independence is feasible we shall continue to try to create the conditions that will make it a realistic and desirable objective.