Courtesy Island

December 9, 2019, 10:13 pm

Lord Naseby PC, President of the All Party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group in the UK Parliament, has stated, in a statement, that if Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party becomes UK Prime Minister it will be disastrous for Sri Lanka as Labour will threaten the country’s sovereignty as an independent nation.

Lord Naseby makes it clear that the Conservatives offer the best opportunity to develop a balanced relationship with the UK and where all communities may unite to live together as one country.

The full text of the media release issued by Lord Naseby titled ‘Conservative Party Manifesto Page 53 reference to Sri Lanka’: “Following interventions from a great many Sri Lankan organisations, including the Conservative Friends of Sri Lanka and myself, the Conservative Party has clarified the confusion of the wording on page 53 by stating and I quote from the Party’s Deputy Chairman:

“To be absolutely clear, the two-state line was intended to refer only to the Israel–Palestine situation in the Middle East. The commitment on Sri Lanka was simply about continuing efforts to support peace and reconciliation.”

This was further clarified by the Foreign Secretary Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab who has confirmed that the Conservative policy towards Sri Lanka has not changed.

I accept the reassurances given. Nevertheless, this issue should never have arisen in the first place. It is particularly poor that whoever wrote and checked the Foreign Policy part of the manifesto failed so badly to see the implications of the Manifesto as published. The leadership of the Conservative Party should understand that it is not the least bit surprising that the Sri Lanka High Commission as well as the Sri Lanka Government and British Sri Lankans were deeply concerned about this manifesto error. This has been compounded by sections of the Tamil Diaspora stating to their followers that the Conservatives were considering a two-state solution.

I am now asking the Party Chairman to issue to the world at large that ‘The Party does NOT have or seek a two-state solution for Sri Lanka’. On top of this I shall, once Parliament is opened by Her Majesty the Queen on December 19th immediately put down a written Question seeking confirmation of the statements made so that The High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, The Government of Sri Lanka and all the people of Sri Lanka will see in writing that there is absolutely no policy for a two state solution. Furthermore, I expect to speak in the Debate of the Queen’s speech which will quickly follow the Opening and will ‘ram home’ to Her Majesty’s Government the need to reassure Sri Lanka that there is no two-state policy for Sri Lanka.

Having said all this, British Sri Lankans of all ethnicities should be under no illusion that a vote for Labour is a vote that does threaten Sri Lanka as a single sovereign independent country.

For a united unitary Sri Lanka where all communities may live together in peace and harmony in one nation – VOTE CONSERVATIVE.”