I beg to present a petition on behalf of the members of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society and others of Her Majesty's loyal subjects in the United Kingdom.

The petition is signed by between 50,000 and 60,000 persons. The petitioners recite that there have been terrorist incursions into Rhodesia from neighbouring territories. The petitioners refer to the nature and affiliation of those responsible and also refer to Her Majesty's present Ministers' declared intention of giving financial aid to the Government of Mozambique.

The petition concludes by praying that the ills and grievances recited may be remedied and redressed by measures within the competence of this House.

I ask, in accordance with precedent, that the petition may be read to the House by the Clerk of the House.

The CLERK OF THE HOUSE read the petition, which was as follows:

To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

The Humble Petition of members of the Anglo-Rhodesian Society and of other of Her Majesty's loyal subjects in the United Kingdom.

Sheweth:

That in the British Colony of Rhodesia or Southern Rhodesia many the inhabitants both of European and of African descent, are being gravely harassed by terrorist incursions from neighbouring territories;

That these neighbouring territories which are fomenting terrorist invasions of Rhodesia are all dictatorships in which democracy has been abandoned and the majority of the population are subject to rule by dictators or oligarchies;

That of these neighbouring territories the worst is Mozambique, in which the Marxist revolutionary dictatorship which has seized the government of the country is under Russian influence and is receiving Russian arms;

And that Her Majesty's present Ministers declared their intention of making Government loans and grants to the Government of Mozambique to strengthen its economy while it is harassing the people of Rhodesia by taking economic action against them, notwithstanding the known and openly proclaimed fact that it is also promoting murderous terrorist incursions into this British Territory;

Wherefore your Petitioners pray that Your Honourable House will not grant supply of public money for the purpose of aiding and nourishing the Communist regime in Mozambique nor any other regime which boasts of organizing destruction and the murder of British people in a British colony; that it will formally condemn the cynicism of those who justify violence by pretending a devotion to majority rule while themselves practising the very opposite; and that the brave British people of Rhodesia, ever devoted to this country in its times of need, sturdy, self-reliant, peaceful and resourceful, may be welcomed back into the fellowship of what the late Sir Winston Churchill called "The British race dwelling all round the world", and the independence of their country within the British Commonwealth of Nations at last recognized and the sanctions used against them allowed to lapse.

And Your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.

To lie upon tile Table.

I beg to present a petition which contains 700 names representing over three-quarters of the residents who live in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence.

Your petitioners object to the construction of a service station at Warren Copse which would be located within the confirmed East Berkshire Green Belt, in the middle of the first piece of real countryside on the M4. The station would be only 400 yards from the conservation village of Shurlock Row.

On 2nd January 1973, the Under Secretary of State in a previous Administration gave an undertaking that the application for the service station should be withdrawn. How can the petitioners understand that this decision can be reversed by another Government only four years later?

The siting of the proposed station is not equidistant between the two existing stations at Heston and Membury, and this would probably mean yet another service station on the 36-mile stretch between Warren Copse and Membury.

In accordance with precedent, I ask the Clerk of the House to read the petition.

The Clerk of the House read the petition, which was as follows:

To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

The Humble Petition of the residents of Shurlock Row and surrounding areas.

Sheweth that the Minister is considering authorising the construction of a service station in the area of Warren Copse, within the green belt of the County of Berkshire, and your Petitioners object to the Minister's proposals which they believe would despoil the amenities of this green belt.

Wherefore your Petitioners pray that Your Honourable House will take all steps to prevent the Minister from taking such action.

And Your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will forever pray, etc.

To lie upon the Table.

To save the time of the House, I will put the three motions relating to Statutory Instruments together.

Ordered,

That the Anti-Dumping Duty Order 1977 (S.I., 1977, No. 280) be referred to a Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments, &c.

That the Herring (Celtic Sea) (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 1977 (S.I., 1977, No. 290) be referred to a Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments, &c.

That the Herring (Specified North Sea Waters) (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 1977 (S.I., 1977, No. 291) be referred to a Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments, &c.—[Mr. Stallard.]