Children's Books Company Directors Fortissimo: Brunei All That Glisters Kenya
'Betrayal'
Musical Novelties Capt Henry Kerby, MP Bridget Tisdall Geoffrey Kerr Charles Forte John Schute M. S. Deol T. E. Bean
KENYA 'BETRAYAL'
SIR,—In 'Over to the Offensive' my friend Angus Maude writes: 'I am sure more could be done to make the "liquidation of the British Empire" sound like the constructive achievement that it is, instead of like an ignominious retreat....' But could more be done, and if it could would it be either true or accepted as the truth? In Kenya, for example, there were 65,000 of our own country- Men settled there at the instigation of our govern- ment and granted 999-year leases of farm lands. What future is there for the 55,000 that remain and who with the coming of uhuru will be deprived of their British citizenship and denied protection by British forces which are to be withdrawn? What is to become of the aged and infirm, some hundreds of whom are listed by the police as 'bad security risks,' meaning that they are too isolated to be res- cued in case of emergency?
In the case of Rhodesia and Nyasaland it may well be that the problem is the most intractable Mr. R. A. Butler has ever had to handle. . Between them Kenya and the Federation are the homes of nearly 400,000 of our own countrymen. The great majority have friends and relations in this country. Many of our own electors have savings in- vested in those parts of Africa, Our winds of change policies have changed loyal hard-working citizens into bitter, disillusioned and contemptuous men and women whose influence will be increasingly felt in this country.
While it is unlikely that those with African con- nections will fall for the hypocritical mouthings of the Socialists on the ties with the Commonwealth, or for the vote-happy catch-phrases of the Liberals, is it not probable that the 'liquidation' will be seen not as 'constructive measure' but as a betrayal, and, that in consequence many thousands of Conserva-, tive voters may abstain? Whether those abstentions will cause a catastrophic turnover in marginal seats is anybody's guess, for much depends on events in.
Kenya and Central Africa during the next few months.
HouSe of Conmions,. SW1 HENRY KERBY
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