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European Affairs

The hon. Gentleman and I have spoken about Belarus on many occasions. The west played a huge part in freeing the formerly communist countries of eastern Europe from tyranny. The BBC played a role by broadcasting to those countries in their own languages, showing them that there was a world outside communism in which people had freedom, managed to enjoy democracy and were not fearful of the secret police. That gave tremendous succour to the people of eastern Europe. They really appreciated it, and were extremely grateful to Great Britain and the BBC for standing up to communism and showing them an alternative. We need to do the same for Belarus. We need to broadcast to its people to show them that the tyranny of President Lukashenko is not inevitable, and to show them that they should aspire to democracy, and to joining the free countries of Europe. We should invite Opposition leaders from Belarus to London, and we should give university scholarships to Belarusians. Most importantly, political parties need to build bridges with Opposition parties and to help them financially in any way that they can. I come to the last part of my speech in which I will say something nice about the Labour party. Many Labour hon. Members played a tremendous role in safeguarding democracy in Portugal in 1975. Some hon. Members may remember that, in 1975, Mario Soares was trying to install a new democracy after the military dictatorship in Portugal, and members of the international socialist movement ensured that that happened, by making repeated visits to Portugal, and by inviting Opposition leaders here. Callaghan, Wilson and many other others stayed close to Mario Soares, and they helped to nurture democracy in Portugal. The Labour party and other socialist parties across Europe played a fundamental role in helping Mario Soares to retain democracy in Portugal. My generation has a responsibility to do the same for the poor people of Belarus.