Within that wide-ranging debate, we have had another on the Crisis in Zimbabwe, which we all take seriously.

The current Crisis in Zimbabwe, as in many African countries, has three basic elements: the crisis with regard to the availability of foreign exchange; the crisis in government financing; and the debt crisis.

It is very much in the interests of South Africa and of the other neighbouring countries that they assist us in resolving the political Crisis in Zimbabwe, to pave the way for economic progress.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his oral statement of 3 May 2000, Official Report, columns 149–50, if he will list the dates of his meetings with the previous Secretary-General of the Commonwealth to discuss the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

It is fair to say that one of our strengths in the current Crisis in Zimbabwe is the universal support that we have had from many of the Commonwealth African leaders, especially President Obasanjo of Nigeria, who has been robust in his criticism.

As I said, the Crisis in Zimbabwe demonstrates the need for the Commonwealth to step up when a member state starts to run off the road.

The Commonwealth ministerial action group, having considered the Crisis in Zimbabwe, will no doubt have to consider what happens after the elections.

Mr. Robin Cook: The economic Crisis in Zimbabwe continues to deepen.

There is no doubt that South Africa's tactic of silent diplomacy in respect of the Zimbabwe Crisis has been to the detriment of both countries.

Mr. Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the South African Government concerning the economic Crisis in Zimbabwe.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, East (Mr. Anderson) is right: the Crisis in Zimbabwe is especially acute for the people of that country, but it is having a dramatic and serious economic effect on neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Mozambique.

I believe that a resolution of the Crisis in Zimbabwe is very important for the future of the Commonwealth.

My Lords, I agree absolutely with the noble Lord, Lord Blaker, on the importance of the Crisis in Zimbabwe to the future of the Commonwealth and indeed Africa as a whole.

Does he agree that at a time of deepening Crisis in Zimbabwe, and as Britain's diplomatic efforts in Africa have completely collapsed this week at the meeting of the Organisation of African Unity, it is extremely regrettable that the British Government's response has been to downgrade the ministerial responsibility for Africa from a Minister of State to two Under-Secretaries?

Hardly a day goes by without more revelations of human rights violations and of the increasingly dire social, political and economic Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Is it not time that we had a full-day's debate on the Crisis in Zimbabwe?

May I draw the Leader of the House's attention to another aspect of the Crisis in Zimbabwe: the urgent need for reconstruction in the country if Robert Mugabe were to lose the election in four weeks' time?

Whatever the outcome of the present Crisis in Zimbabwe, I urge the Government, with respect, to continue to hold fast to the kind of vision that NePAD represents - a New Partnership for Africa's Development, which already involves 16 African nations.

The current Crisis in Zimbabwe was extensively discussed.

What recent discussions he has had with the countries of southern Africa about securing a solution to the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, we are funding the World Food Programme because there is a serious humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

(2) what contingency plans the Government have made to rescue British passport holders by air in the event of a major humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

However, there continues to be a major Crisis in Zimbabwe.

As my hon. Friend says, one of the heartening aspects of the Zimbabwe Crisis has been the leadership on offer from Africa.

Does the Minister agree that it is important that the growing Crisis in Zimbabwe is not driven on to the back burner because of the crisis in the middle east and other problems in the world?

I do not know the agenda for that meeting but I am aware that there are concerns about the growing economic Crisis in Zimbabwe.

We know that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is getting worse.

It must be bound together by an understanding that failure to deal with the Crisis in Zimbabwe threatens the whole region and will make international economic support for the region less practicable.

The United Kingdom's contribution to attempts to deal with the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe stands at £32 million.

The UN is trying to cope, through the World Food Programme, with the significant humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Are the Government now considering that type of measure for the current Crisis in Zimbabwe?

The increasingly dire social, economic, political and environmental Crisis in Zimbabwe worsens by the day.

Brian Kagoro, the national co-ordinator of Crisis in Zimbabwe, looking for support from some of the newer African governments, said: "What you need in Africa are voices of dissent.

As the noble Lord, Lord Blaker, made clear, the economic Crisis in Zimbabwe is having an impact on neighbouring economies.

The problem is that, between independence in 1980 and the development of the Zimbabwe Crisis about 18 or 19 years later, there was no public diplomacy by the Government of this country—on Matabeleland or on the growing use of torture and terrorist tactics by ZANU—PF to alert the world to the crisis and tragedy of Zimbabwe.

However, there continues to be a major Crisis in Zimbabwe, where over seven million people are likely to continue to need assistance during the next 12 months.

Africa has failed to grapple with the Crisis in Zimbabwe, which many people in western countries see as a test of the rigour and effectiveness of NEPAD's commitment to good governance and human rights.

If the concept of partnership that is enshrined in NEPAD is to have any meaning, the UK must continue to play a leading role in working with African nations to resolve the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

James Morris, director of the World Food Programme—who briefed the United Nations Security Council on 7 April—described the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe as "almost beyond comprehension".

James Morris, director of the World Food Programme - who briefed the United Nations Security Council on7 April - described the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe as "almost beyond comprehension".

We are determined that the Zimbabwe Crisis should not undermine NEPAD, although it has certainly not made NEPAD's implementation any easier.

The humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe cannot be resolved without political and economic change, but we must do all that we can to support its people until that change comes about.

Of course, many other conditions are associated with the circumstances and humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe, which will, sadly, produce deaths.

I do not believe that the link between the success of NePAD and resolving the Zimbabwe Crisis has been fully digested and accepted by all African leaders.

I cannot agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Rawlings, that nothing has been done to deal with the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Consistent with this African-led initiative, we discussed the steps they are taking to resolve the current appalling Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Consistent with the African-led initiative, we discussed the steps that are being taken to resolve the appalling Crisis in Zimbabwe.

At the G8 summit in Evian my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and other G8 leaders took the opportunity to discuss with President Mbeki and other African leaders the steps they are taking to resolve the current Crisis in Zimbabwe.

And when will the Foreign Secretary go to the United Nations Security Council to seek a resolution to internationalise the Crisis in Zimbabwe and put observers on the ground?

UK NGOs and charities are playing a vital role in responding to the Crisis in Zimbabwe, and DFID's country team supports and assists those present in Zimbabwe.

Mr. Mullin: The high commissioner and his staff are in daily contact with the FCO about the political, economic and humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken within the United Nations to ensure that action is taken to end the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

We will continue to encourage the UN to focus on the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

As the communiqué from the Abuja agreement in September 2001 rightly observed: "Land is at the core of the Crisis in Zimbabwe and cannot be separated from other issues of concern to the Commonwealth, such as the rule of law, respect for human rights" and democracy.

My Lords, the Zimbabwe Crisis is damaging regional economies and has adversely affected their interest rates, inflation, foreign direct investment and tourism.

The Zimbabwe Crisis is obviously producing a flow of refugees across its borders.

] When the Under-Secretary, Baroness Amos, wrote to me in June last year, she was as unhelpful as the Foreign Secretary: "I fear that until there is an improvement in the economic Crisis in Zimbabwe, and the value of the Zimbabwean dollar on the foreign exchange market increases, there is unlikely to be any improvement in the level of pensions paid to pensioners.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is spilling into surrounding countries, leading to a dramatic drop in inward investment and considerable numbers of refugees.

NePAD's credibility has certainly been harmed by the inability of African leaders to expedite the resolution of the Zimbabwe Crisis.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe has now dragged on for a very long time.

It is now more than three years since the Victoria Falls conference in April 2000, when he publicly undertook to resolve the Zimbabwe Crisis, and all his attempts have utterly failed.

If human rights abuses continue to worsen, the political and economic Crisis in Zimbabwe will be difficult to heal".

The problems facing The Daily News are a clear symptom of the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe, and it is especially important that the world focuses on the daily erosion of human rights.

It discredits this Government that there has still been no Government debate on the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

However, because what he did in the land reform process - we have not agreed with it, and the way in which it was undertaken has led to much of the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe - was seen as dealing with historical injustice, it has been welcomed in some parts of Africa.

What are Her Majesty's Government doing to ensure that the commitments and promises given earlier this year by President Thabo Mbeki to our Prime Minister, as well as to President Bush, that there would be a resolution of the Crisis in Zimbabwe by mid-2004 are met?

I am baffled as to why, with the Crisis in Zimbabwe having loomed large on the radar screen of both the foreign policy and international development agendas, Her Majesty's Government have not found time for a full debate in government time either here or in another place.

There is real hope that the Zimbabwe Crisis will soon be relieved and that that will give new momentum to NePAD and real hope that the vision of an African renaissance will materialise.

Those particular attacks do not appear to be politically motivated; rather, they are a tragic consequence of the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

I can assure my hon. Friend that the international community, which is providing support to meet the Crisis in Zimbabwe - the UK is the second largest contributor of humanitarian aid - is very clear and very firm in not tolerating any political interference in the distribution of food aid.

The Government must realise that, by not dealing with the mounting Crisis in Zimbabwe, they are being irresponsible, and thus are partly responsible for the tragic situation continuing.

We have never suggested that solving the Crisis in Zimbabwe would be easy or could be accomplished overnight, but there will certainly not be progress if we do not move the process on more forcefully.

Do the Government see the Commission as playing a more effective role in resolving the Zimbabwe Crisis?

The continuing humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe is a topic of constant discussion among the donor community, including the United Nations.

It is worth reminding ourselves of the nature of the Crisis in Zimbabwe, which can best be described as a series of deficits.

I am fobbed off with the answer that because the Zimbabwe Crisis is an internal or domestic problem, the UN cannot get involved - tell that to some 127,000 Zimbabwean refugees who are trying to get into Botswana each month.

The solution to the Zimbabwe Crisis now has to lie in a partnership between the people of Zimbabwe and the international community.

They feel that the only way of making the international community take the Crisis in Zimbabwe seriously is to resort to violence.

Inward investment to the region is never likely to pick up while sores such as the Zimbabwe Crisis are allowed to fester.

The South Africans are under no illusions about the extent of the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Finally, African leaders now recognise that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is about tyranny, breakdown of the rule of law, harsh repression of criticism and gross misgovernance.

Could not a strong statement by the G7, stressing the importance of the other African countries to resolve the Zimbabwe Crisis in accordance with their treaty obligations, be of value - especially if it were endorsed by Nelson Mandela, who will attend the conference?

For far too long many people have refused to point a finger at the power lust and corruption of the ZANU-PF regime and identify it as the fundamental cause of the Crisis in Zimbabwe for fear that it might jeopardise their operations in the country.

The international community's responsibility for preventing the Crisis in Zimbabwe dragging down the rest of southern Africa, as has been described by the noble Lord, Lord Blaker, and others, is a huge one.

It is unnecessary to go over that ground again, as the contributions this afternoon served to underline the depth of understanding in this House of the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

I hope and pray that sanity will prevail in resolving the Zimbabwe Crisis.

The humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe is very real, but it is increasingly clear that condemnation of Mugabe and his regime, whether by our Government or other hon. Members, is like water off a duck's back.

, the Foreign Secretary made a public call for Africans to deal with the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Unless resolute action is taken, I fear that the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe will move to a new and even more sinister phase.

I share the hon. Gentleman's assessment of the current Crisis in Zimbabwe.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe is a threat to the stability of southern Africa.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe is caused by bad governance and bad policies.

The victims of Mugabe's self-inflicted Crisis in Zimbabwe are Zimbabweans - the vulnerable, the homeless, the orphans, the hungry and those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Until now, the Government have preferred to play a behind the scenes role in dealing with the Crisis in Zimbabwe, and Ministers have been anxious - perhaps understandably - to avoid playing to Mugabe's propaganda scripts, which portray the Zimbabwe crisis as a bilateral post-colonial dispute.

Regarding the weakening of the European Union position, I maintain that the EU stands firmly in agreement on the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Our deep concern about the political Crisis in Zimbabwe, and the economic crisis that it has generated, remains undiminished.

Ministers and officials are in constant contact with our African counterparts, emphasising the risks to regional stability and the importance of Zimbabwe's African neighbours taking a more direct role in addressing the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Increasingly, African Heads of State are now, thankfully, speaking out and deriding the Zimbabwe Crisis as being embarrassing for Africa.

My Lords, the Prime Minister and president agreed that the states in the region had a key role in finding a solution to the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Before he leaves his current position - I congratulate him on the work that he has done since he was appointed Leader of the House - will he announce today that there will be a debate on the Floor of the House, in Government time, on the Crisis in Zimbabwe, a country that is important to the future of central southern Africa?

Before he leaves his current position - I congratulate him on the work that he has done since he was appointed Leader of the House - will he announce today that there will be a debate on the Floor of the House, in Government time, on the Crisis in Zimbabwe, which is an important country to the future of central southern Africa?

In those discussions, we have welcomed the engagement of those states in attempting to resolve the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

My Lords, the Crisis in Zimbabwe is deepening.

Other hon. Members have mentioned the importance of other African nations accepting that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is the responsibility of all Africa, not just Zimbabweans.

I add my thanks to him for his continued engagement in the Crisis in Zimbabwe and acknowledge that I have learnt a lot from him this evening.

It follows similar statements by President Museveni of Uganda and President Yar'Adua of Nigeria, perhaps indicating a change of attitude to the Zimbabwe Crisis by African leaders.

Others will speak with greater knowledge and authority on the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

By prolonging the Crisis in Zimbabwe, these countries are adding to the massive sums that will be required for reconstruction when ZANU-PF eventually goes and undermining the development of the region as a whole.

As the noble Lord, Lord Morris, has already said, there is already a profound humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

We all respect his continued commitment to raising the Crisis in Zimbabwe at every possible opportunity.

First, it has been important to emphasise that there is a humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe, which requires humanitarian action by the Department for International Development.

In truth, in spite of what President Mugabe would want the world to believe, the Crisis in Zimbabwe has never been about personalities.

My Lords, the Crisis in Zimbabwe continues.

Ultimately, our intention is to aim for an embargo by the Security Council, particularly if the constitutional Crisis in Zimbabwe continues, but our current priority is to prevent arms from reaching Zimbabwe, and we are open on how states achieve that.

My Lords, the Zimbabwe Crisis must be resolved quickly and in accordance with the will of the Zimbabwean people.

Given that Tonderai Ndira, a prominent Movement for Democratic Change activist in Zimbabwe, whom I had the privilege to meet in 2004, was found dead on Tuesday in a Harare hospital mortuary only days after being violently abducted by a group of armed thugs, may I reiterate the pertinent request ofthe hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) that the House should debate the escalating Crisis in Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency?

My Lords, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I are in regular contact with SADC leaders and Foreign Ministers to discuss the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Mbeki used his vote at the UN Security Council to block discussion of the Crisis in Zimbabwe.

What action will the Prime Minister take to encourage the African nations to help resolve the current Crisis in Zimbabwe?

The fourth point is the vital need to ensure that despite the focus on the politics we do not lose sight of the humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe.

The humanitarian Crisis in Zimbabwe is probably the worst anywhere in the world outside a war zone.

That is currently under discussion and will be a further powerful expression of the international community's concern about the Crisis in Zimbabwe, already expressed in the UN Security Council presidential statement of23 June.

First, I am sure that hon. Members in all parts of the House are concerned about the latest tragic news from Zimbabwe, so will the Leader of the House make sure that before the Christmas recess the House is informed about steps being taken to resolve the political Crisis in Zimbabwe and to ensure that those innocent people are given the help that they desperately need?

What can he do to ensure that they understand that resolving the Crisis in Zimbabwe is essential not only for the people of Zimbabwe, but for the development of the entire region of southern Africa?

The response from both the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to the Zimbabwe Crisis has been disappointing and timid.

I am reassured that a new consensus is developing in SADC that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is dragging down the region and compromising social stability and economic progress.

I am reassured that a new consensus is developing in the SADC that the Crisis in Zimbabwe is dragging down the region and compromising social stability and economic progress.