Richard Spring MP
Member of Parliament for West Suffolk

Michael Ancram as Shadow Foreign Secretary, and I as his deputy, very quietly visited Zimbabwe. It was a week before the final date of the white farmers having to leave their farms. On one particular farm, the owner’s son was about to become a father. I asked him what the baby’s name was going to be, and he laughingly replied Robert Gabriel. I admired his gutsiness. 

When the farmers were first told to leave, we raised this in Parliament because we knew what the economic consequences would be. It was obvious to us that the Government here did not remotely grasp the impending seriousness of the situation, and surveyed it all with a curiously misplaced ambiguity. Of course Britain could not be seen to lead the charge, as opposed to working energetically behind the scenes, but the Government have never at any stage tackled the Zimbabwe problem with sufficient drive or focus. 

So the economic implosion took place. We suggested to the South African government that they should respond much more aggressively. After all it was the old apartheid regime which brought down Ian Smith and his government by threatening to cut off power supplies. This was rejected, and South Africa has paid a huge price, with several million refugees. Their quiet diplomacy simply did not work. However the Government here would not be critical either publicly or privately. Other neighbouring African leaders equally were reluctant to take on Mugabe despite fully understanding the disaster he wrought. 

There was a curious personal denouncement to my visit there. Two or three years ago journalists contacted me to find out whether I was paying for the children of a Zimbabwean Cabinet Minister to be educated here. It really was a bizarre idea, without any truth whatsoever. Where the allegations came from I never discovered. 

What has happened in Zimbabwe has been an unspeakable horror story. History will not be kind to those who failed to act before the situation there spun out of control. 

I cannot think of any historical parallel for the sheer magnitude of this tragedy which has so besmirched the reputation of Africa. Resurrecting Zimbabwe is going to be one of the most urgent tasks of the decade. 

What happened there really cannot ever be allowed to happen again. 

When a Government says that they are introducing measures to restore people’s right to an affordable cost of living, it would usually be greeted with gratitude from the population as a sign of a compassion and consideration from their elected representatives.

However, when we take into account that this is Zimbabwe, the alarm bells begin to ring, and not without justification. Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe, once one of the leading exporters in Africa, has led it to the brink of collapse. 4 million people living there are expected to go hungry next year as production has collapsed.

Mugabe imposed wide-ranging state price controls which threaten to wreak further havoc for the people of Zimbabwe. Shops are having to sell their goods for a tiny fraction of their true value, leading to widespread shortages of food. Supermarket shelves are empty, and black marketeers are selling the goods at vastly inflated prices. The plight of people in this country should be a concern for us all. Instead, we see Mugabe being invited to an EU Summit this year. William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary was absolutely right to call this a ‘disgrace’ and it is time for the new Prime Minister to take a much tougher line in dealing with this heartless and mindless regime.

The people of Zimbabwe deserve so much better. The former breadbasket of Africa is now a basket case. It is truly appalling that a number of the country’s neighbours are so unwilling to be openly critical. Apart from the Zimbabwean people themselves, it is they who are having to deal with the tragic consequences.

The economic collapse of Zimbabwe continues apace, with millions of Zimbabweans having to go abroad.  The agricultural base of the country, once a major exporter in the region, has imploded.  Civil and human rights are under increasing threat.

We now have a Zimbabwean government minister elected to chair the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.  John Howard has banned, by contrast, Australian cricketers from travelling there.  It is a major difference in attitudes.  As for Africa recognising the full damage that Zimbabwe does to its citizens, it is a pity that the African countries’ private concerns could not have been made very clear publicly.  This appointment should never have been made.

The political history of Zimbabwe has been a chequered one.  Considered to be a jewel in the crown of Africa, an attempt to create a federation of what is now Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe failed.  Then we had a unilateral declaration of independence by Ian Smith, which ultimately led to Robert Mugabe coming to power.  There was a terrible early episode directed against the minority Matabele people, but that apart the new ZANU-PF government gave the country much hope for the future.

Well, we know what happened subsequently.  The initial response from the British Government was pathetic and anaemic.  It was quite obvious to us that the expulsion of white farmers would lead to economic collapse.  For whatever reason, the Government effectively told us that we were being hysterical.  Their response – when something could have been done – was very muted, and they refused to put real pressure on South Africa.  Ironically, it was the old apartheid regime which brought the Ian Smith government to its knees by threatening to cut off energy supplies.  We suggested the same to the current South African government, to no avail.

So the economy has imploded and now there are rumblings of real dissent amongst the defence and security forces.  It has been surprising that Zimbabweans have been so passive so far, preferring to vote with their feet.  Millions now live abroad, many in real hardship.

When so much of Africa is now doing much better in economic terms, Zimbabwe is a real and tragic blot.  It is a matter for regret that the so-called peer review mechanism amongst African leaders has failed, and external criticism has been very limited indeed.

At a time when consciousness of Africa’s needs has never been higher, we can only hope that Mugabe’s rule will end soon.  Few countries have been so destroyed so quickly by one man.