asked the Prime Minister whether he will state the criteria by which rebels against British rule are dealt with by military occupation, with special reference to the position of illegal violence by Mr. Ian Smith and his illegal government and the illegal provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland; and what are the criteria for negotiation with such rebels.

It has been the policy of successive British Governments to try to negotiate a just and peaceful settlement in Rhodesia within the Five Principles. I cannot accept that there is any basis for the parallel which the hon. Member attempts to draw between the situation in Rhodesia and that in Northern Ireland.