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Foreign Affairs and Defence

I am grateful to the right hon. Lady for making a sensible point, but the Government have not put the pressure on South Africa that they could have exerted, which would have been important in improving the situation in Zimbabwe. For some reason, they bottle out of any confrontation with the South African Government, who largely hold the key to the situation in Zimbabwe. I urge the Government, even at this late stage, to make a far greater attempt to persuade the South African Government of the important role they have to play. The new high commissioner will soon go to South Africa. Surely that is an opportunity for the Government to exercise influence on the South African Government to improve the situation. That problem and others in Africa have not been helped by consigning the Commonwealth to the periphery of British foreign policy.