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Commonwealth

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, on introducing this timely debate. I speak as a great supporter of the Commonwealth. I particularly commend the work of the staff at the British high commissions around the Commonwealth, including officials at the Department for International Development. They do a splendid job, often with inadequate resources, particularly in the commercial field. Of course, here in Parliament we are well served by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which arranges meetings with visitors from the Commonwealth and sends delegations of MPs and Lords to Commonwealth countries on what are usually very demanding schedules. The Government get good value from the voluntary overtime that parliamentarians put in when they join those delegations. The CPA also keeps a watchful eye on the large number of all-party Country Groups; I know that because I was instrumental in setting up the All-Party Group on Botswana a few years ago. I highly recommend membership of the CPA to any noble Lords who are not already members. I mentioned Botswana a moment ago, and I declare my interest in Botswana—it is in the Register. Africa is moving up the political agenda, and I congratulate the Prime Minister on putting it there, because he seems to believe that Africa should get better resources than it has currently. Whenever I come back from Africa, water is uppermost in my mind. Many African countries are very dry and suffer long droughts. There is evidence that climate change is not only reducing rainfall but leading to a fall in the water table. Millions of Africans do not have access to clean water, which leads to malnutrition, disease and crop failure. On my first visit to Africa, which was to Kenya with the CPA, I remember being told by a Member of Parliament from the north of the country how his constituents dealt with their water shortage. Women—it was always women—would get up in the morning and walk 10 miles to fill up buckets, walk 10 miles back, cook the evening meal, eat, go to bed, then get up in the morning and go and get water. That is not living; that is a grinding existence. I visited Uganda a few years ago, again with the CPA, where I met members of the Jinja Rotary Club, which is twinned with the Sunrise Rotary Club in Cheltenham. They showed me some of their projects, including securing water from a natural spring by installing pipes and concrete. The local people told me that there had been no rain and there was only a trickle of water dripping from the pipes. I remember saying, ““I’ll see what I can do””, which in retrospect was a ridiculous thing to say. However, within half an hour we experienced the most dramatic thunderstorm and cloudburst, which went on for two hours or more. For the rest of the time we were in Uganda we took every opportunity to claim credit for bringing the rain. I know that water supply is not one of our Government’s priorities, but it ought to be pushed higher up the priority list. The UK has many excellent water companies and engineers who are able to help dry countries to use their water supply better and give advice on putting in place infrastructure—dams, pipes, boreholes—which would improve the situation. The most important point is to help to train local Africans to maintain and expand their system of water conservation and recycling. Africans must design African solutions for African problems. Another aspect of African development which we have already heard about and which is important is the spread of democracy. I have taken part in a number of election monitoring missions in Africa: to South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Ghana, Gambia and Sierra Leone. My week in Sierra Leone was the toughest of my life. There was little food, no clean water and lots of mosquitoes. I lost a stone in weight, and when I came home my wife tried to send me back for another week so I would lose another stone. In each of the elections that I have observed, I have been struck by the enthusiasm of the voters to take part. Long queues formed everywhere, and people waited patiently for their turn; they knew it was important to vote. There are good examples of young democracies flourishing. I was present in Ghana when there was a peaceful change of government following the retirement of President Rawlings, the military man who seized power twice in coups. Discussion is going on in several countries about different ways of counting votes to reflect minorities. The Government should continue to help young democracies in setting up democratic, independent electoral commissions. I look forward to taking part in future election monitoring missions. I would like to say a few words about the British Overseas Territories, in which I take a great interest, and particularly to say something about St Helena, which is one of the smallest members of the Commonwealth. My former constituency of Cheltenham has had a 30-year education link with the island. St Helena has seen a massive reduction in population in recent years, to such an extent that many saw little future for the island. The only regular and fairly reliable access is the remaining Royal Mail ship still in use, the RMS ““St Helena””, which takes five days to get from Cape Town to St Helena. I visited the island and Ascension with the CPA in 2003, and was struck that the island’s community was drifting away because there were few career opportunities. There is a desperate need for more rapid access and I am delighted that the UK Government have decided to build an airport, which has long been talked about. The island offers much to tourists, including visitors from France. Napoleon’s home is still in existence, and French people are likely to flock there to see where their once-great hero lived. Around the island, there are the remains of more than 1,000 shipwrecks to attract divers, a reminder of the pivotal part that St Helena once played as a refuelling point for vessels of the East India Company. Noble Lords may have read the unfortunate article in the Sunday Times by the normally reliable environment editor Jonathan Leake, who seems to have got his facts twisted. The article states that a,"““hotel and golf complex . . . would cover up to 15 per cent of the green belt””." That is nonsense. It might take up 1 per cent of the delightfully named Broad Bottom site where the airport and leisure complex are likely to be built, but the environment overall will be much improved. Noble Lords will know that I made my maiden speech a few weeks ago on the subject of frozen pensions. I would like to press the noble Baroness the Leader of the House on the issue. It seems odd that people who have paid the same contributions towards their pensions are not given the same benefits when they retire, wherever they retire. That applies particularly to the overseas territories. I encourage all colleagues in this and the other House to visit the Commonwealth whenever they get the chance. Its people are always pleased to see us. I mentioned that my own interest is in Botswana, which provides fantastic resorts for tourists as well as having some of the gentlest people in the world.