WALL: I am not sure. I do not recall anyone being agin it, but the policy was very much made by David Owen anyway. The troops were swept along in his wake. Insofar as it was not invented there, there might have been some reluctance, but I do not recall anyone being against it, as such, and saying that it could not work. ONSLOW: In Lord Owen’s calculations as Foreign Secretary, how important was the Commonwealth? WALL: Pretty important. Certainly one of his big set backs was when he failed to reach agreement in Cabinet for a Commonwealth force. That was due largely to the opposition of Denis Healey and the general fear that Britain would be sucked in. There could not be a Commonwealth force without British involvement. David Owen felt that that was a set back because a UN force was very much second best. ONSLOW: Was it the general consensus within his policy team on Rhodesia that bringing in the Commonwealth would be an excellent idea as a way of corralling African nationalism? WALL: As far as I recall, yes. I do not recall anyone being again it. However, it was a long time ago. ONSLOW: The other matter is land. WALL: Yes. ONSLOW: How much attention was devoted within his policy team on how to address the issue of land? WALL: It was addressed, but I do not recall our having a detailed plan on how the land issue was to be resolved. ONSLOW: Do you recall it being seen as one of the key elements of settlement? WALL: Yes, but we were so much geared to the idea of getting a constitution agreed that it was probably seen as being further down the track, something that had to be resolved and that, if the constitution were in place, it could be resolved. ONSLOW: So that was the approach? Put the structure in place and then deal with matters. WALL: Yes. Others like Johnny Graham would have a better recollection than me. I do not remember there being detailed discussion about land issues.
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