This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.
Hani Assassination raised in UK parliament
UK Hansard (refs to MPs conspiring to kill Hani)
Mr. Tim Renton (Mid-Sussex) : Further to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Sir G. Shaw), in this interim period, while my right hon. Friend
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looks wisely and cautiously at whether other options should be exercised, will he look at the ability of the international organisations to deal with the vast increase in the number of refugees? Will he, for instance, look at what is happening to aid which is going to refugee camps for Bosnians in Croatia? I understand that the Croatians have already closed some of the Bosnian refugee camps in their country and that they are dispersing the Bosnian refugees, the Muslims, either to notional camps or sending them closer to the fighting lines. That needs looking at at this stage.
Mr. Hurd : I think my right hon. Friend must be right. I am not familiar with the details, but if he would like to amplify what he has said I will make sure that it receives urgent consideration. Several hon. Members rose --
Madam Speaker : We must now move on.
Mrs. Teresa Gorman (Billericay) : On a point of order, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker : I have a Standing Order No. 20 application to hear first from the hon. Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden). 4.32 pm
Mr. Max Madden (Bradford, West) : I wish to apply, under Standing Order No. 20, to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely,
"the policy of Her Majesty's Government in relation to the future of Bosnia."
I think that the tragic events unfolding in Bosnia in recent days, reinforced by the exchanges that we have just heard on the statement, self- evidently meet the criteria of Standing Order No. 20. I will therefore put this application simply. When, in God's name, are the elected representatives of the people of Britain to be given a full and proper opportunity to discuss in the House of Commons the evil genocide, murder and systematic rapes which are part of the unmitigated aggression of Serbia? When will the House be given an opportunity to speak for the people of Britain on the biggest crisis facing Europe since the end of the second world war?
Madam Speaker : I have listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman has said. As he knows, I have to announce my decision without giving my reasons for it. I do not consider that the matter that he has raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 20. Therefore, I cannot submit his application to the House.
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Points of Order
4.35 pm
Mrs. Teresa Gorman (Billericay) : On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I seek your guidance about an article that appeared in The Guardian today in which the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain)--who has left his place, despite the fact that I notified him that I would mention the matter to you--deliberately sought to link me to the assassination in South Africa of Mr. Chris Hani, an incident that I utterly deplore. The hon. Gentleman has not a shred of evidence, but alleged in The Guardian that he was already making complaints about the matter in the House through the proper authorities. Will she advise me as to how the matter can be dealt with under our Standing Orders and what she is prepared to do about the conduct of the hon. Member for Neath, who has previously made allegations--
[Interruption.]
Madam Speaker : Order. The hon. Lady is referring to a "she". Who is "she"?
Mrs. Gorman : No, I am not. I am referring to the hon. Member for Neath. I said that he was not in his place, but he has since returned. Without having a shred of evidence for doing so, the hon. Member alleged in The Guardian today that I am linked with the assassination of Mr. Chris Hani in South Africa. It is also reported in The Guardian that the hon. Gentleman is raising the matter in the House with the relevant authorities. Will she--meaning yourself, Madam Speaker--advise me on how the matter can be dealt with and how the hon. Member for Neath can be reprimanded for his discreditable conduct?
Madam Speaker : Does the hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain) wish to make a point of order in response?
Mr. Peter Hain (Neath) : Further to that point of order, Madam Speaker. I have made no allegations against the
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hon. Lady, who is being extremely misleading in making that suggestion. I said that there is evidence, reported in both The Independent and The Guardian, of links between the Conservatives and the Western Goals Institute and the Conservative party in South Africa--one of whose ex-Members of Parliament and leaders has been charged in connection with the Hani assassination. The Prime Minister needs to get to the bottom of the matter, and the hon. Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) is seeking to obfuscate the matter.
Madam Speaker : Thankfully, I have no responsibililty for what one Member of Parliament says about another. The hon. Members must sort it out among themselves.
Mr. Robert N. Wareing (Liverpool, West Derby) : On a point of order, Madam Speaker. I appreciate the decision that you have just taken on the Standing Order No. 20 application of my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Madden), but you would probably agree that, in view of on-going events, there is need for an urgent debate on Yugoslavia. Through your good offices, Madam Speaker, would you ask the Government--I see that Ministers from the Foreign Office are present--to ensure that there is in the House a full debate, not merely questions, on the subject at an early opportunity?
Madam Speaker : The hon. Gentleman is trying to use the Chair of the House to put questions that are not relevant now. As he knows, the business of the House has nothing whatever to do with the Speaker. I have let the statement run for quite a long time today, and I have deliberately sought to call every hon. Member who was disappointed last week during the statement. I keep accurate records and, with one exception, I have been able to call every hon. Member who was disappointed last week. I hope that the House will help me to keep up what I consider to be a reasonably high standard.