Mr. Hugh Bayley (York): I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate, and I share his view that, for historical reasons, we have an obligation to St. Helena. My concern in last week's debate related to the fact that the ODA has to weigh our historical responsibility for St. Helena against its responsibility for development in much poorer countries in the third world. Does the hon. Gentleman share my view that it might be better to ask a part of Government other than the ODA--possibly the Foreign Office itself--to take responsibility for dependent territories, in the same way as the Foreign Office takes direct responsibility for other institutions, such as the BBC World Service or the British Council?

Mr. Wolfson: That suggestion is worth considering and, happily, it leads me to my final constitutional point.

If ever there was a case of he who pays the piper calls the tune, it is the ODA and its role in St. Helena. Since the ODA pays for almost everything, our overriding perception was that the ODA experts second-guess practically every policy decision on the island. That is done with the best intentions and because the work involves the use of public money. My taxpayers in

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It is sometimes difficult for the Foreign Office team to refer everything to the ODA, whose decisions will most directly affect the island. I am not criticising all the work and the commitment of the ODA to the life and prosperity of St. Helena, as it is vital. But we must encourage those who are politically elected in St. Helena--where there are no political parties--to take real responsibility for the decisions affecting the government of the island.

When there are no political parties, it is difficult for policies to develop and be put through. The policy is developed in the strategic plan, and the Members of LegCo need to feel responsible and must have it demonstrated to them that they have the responsibility for decision making on implementation.

All members of the St. Helena all-party group are extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in this debate. I apologise on behalf of its chairman, my hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Waterside (Mr. Colvin), who is committed to attending the Defence Select Committee; otherwise he would be here.

St. Helena will remain in my mind for many years to come. I shall continue to follow its fortunes with interest, admiration and warm regard.

11.30 am

Dr. John Marek (Wrexham): I congratulate the hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Mr. Wolfson) on securing the debate, which is timely because the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association recently sent a delegation to the island, of which he, my hon. Friend the Member for Monklands, West (Mr. Clarke) and Lord Beaumont were members.

It is a pity that the CPA can send a delegation to St. Helena only once every 12 or 13 years; I was a member of the previous delegation in 1984. St. Helena is probably our only dependent territory receiving budgetary aid, and it is extremely isolated. What I have to say will not all be good news.

The hon. Member for Sevenoaks made several important points and I agree entirely with all but one. I hope that the Minister listened carefully. Citizenship is perhaps the most important point. The St. Helenians feel isolated and betrayed by the removal of citizenship, and that must be reconsidered either by the Government or by successor Governments. The matter will not go away, and a settlement must be reached as soon as possible.

I also agree with the hon. Gentleman about Overseas Development Administration officials umpiring the umpire. They have a nice time looking at St. Helena and gathering some information and then they second-guess any decisions that are to be made on the island. One of the Members of the Legislative Council, the honourable John Newman MLC, sent me a fax referring to the recent visit by ODA officials. The fax said:

"It is felt that there was insufficient time given to meetings with the Elected Members and that the majority of consultation was undertaken by expatriate officials which consisted of the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Economist and Chief Auditor with no St. Helenian officials included. I raised this matter with the Chief Secretary and my point was noted."

I received a fax from LegCo, and I suspect that other hon. Members received it, too. It said:

"We, the elected members of the Legislative Council of St. Helena do hereby request that permission, co-operation and assistance be given to the Government of St. Helena by HMG to enable it to increase external revenue by any legal means, and by so doing reduce the amount of Financial Aid given to us by the ODA."

What is going on in St. Helena? Is the Legislative Council treated as being of no importance? I hope not. I hope that the Governor and the officials who are sent from the Foreign Office to St. Helena by Her Majesty's Government take elected Members of the Legislative Council seriously. If a proposal is made, it should be considered seriously, and if it truly cannot be put into operation, a proper explanation should be given.

If that was all that was wrong with St. Helena, it would not be much of a problem; but there is more. A programme of improvements needs to be implemented. We must consider whether an airport can be built. My views are mixed, but I think that we could investigate the possibility of a mainland African company flying an aircraft one day a week to St. Helena and back from a coastal town on mainland Africa and using that aircraft on other business for the other six days. It would be reasonably easy to build an airport on the island.

Tourism development is important. Other matters that interest St. Helenians and should be addressed include an integrated port management, development of fisheries, better cargo handling equipment, wharf improvements, a wind turbine, water development, a second 1 MW generator, better electricity distribution, expansion of the bulk fuel installation, better water catchment and drainage; and the social issues, including care of the elderly, waste disposal, housing and all the matters that will inevitably crop up in any civilised society. Those matters are talked about, but nothing much happens.

I want to make a crucial point about the government of St. Helena. I am told that the Governor, in an interview on board MS Explorer, which visited the island, said that he found St. Helena "boring and tedious", and that that comment was broadcast to islanders over the radio. That cannot be right. If the Governor can say such a thing, why is he the Governor? I asked a parliamentary question about that, but the Minister of course glossed over it.

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We need some honesty about what is going on. It is said by the St. Helenians that the Governor spends much more of his time away from the island than other Governors. Worse is to come. The police used to be given free transport between their home and the police station, and they were suddenly told, with no consultation or negotiations, that that concession was being withdrawn and that in future they would have between £30 and £50 docked from their monthly pay of about £300. They took the Governor to court. The Chief Justice had arrived, but unfortunately had to leave on the ship before the case could be concluded, because the Government did not produce the files that he needed to determine the case. I am told that the island's Attorney-General said that the case had had to be postponed because of the way in which they were deliberately misled. That is not good. There should not be such Government duplicity with civil proceedings on the island.

On 27 October, there was a 200-strong protest march of teachers and nurses led by elected councillors of LegCo. They wanted to petition the Governor because they had been given only a week's notice that fares on school buses would rise by between £9 and £20 a month. There had been no consultation, negotiation or explanation; they were told by diktat. While many matters on St. Helena are the responsibility of the Government, power is vested in the Governor, not LegCo. Hon. Members must understand that all important powers are kept by the Governor, who is nominated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall and sent to the island.

The Governor would not meet the protesters. I am told that he watched from Solomon's office in Main street and sent the Chief Secretary, Mr. John Perrott, to deal with the deputation. The Governor had previously been manhandled during another demonstration, which is unheard of in St. Helena, which is a civilised place. The last thing that would occur to people there would be to go on a demonstration, let alone manhandle the Governor. I understand that it was simply a case of someone getting hold of his tie, but even so, matters are not right.

The Foreign Office should review the government of St. Helena. A new constitution has been prepared, partly by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association international secretariat. We must also review whether expatriate officials have empathy, as the hon. Member for Sevenoaks put it, with the people of St. Helena. I do not think that they do.

Finally, there is the case of Mrs. Brenda Cairns-Wicks. She had been a teacher in St. Helena for six years and was an unestablished civil servant. We dispensed with all that 20 or 30 years ago. She became pregnant. Normally, when a teacher becomes pregnant, she gets 14 weeks' leave or whatever, but not a bit of it. The rules and regulations in St. Helena had not been updated and she was required to resign. After her confinement, she would have to apply for another job, if one were available. I brought the matter to the Minister's attention. He is an honourable man and I like him, but it is to his shame that he has done nothing about the matter. She was forced to resign. The rules were changed a week after she resigned, so that others who become pregnant will not face the same appalling situation. Nothing could be done after she had resigned, because her job had already been filled.

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