ABSTRACT
Rhodesia had been a running sore throughout the 1960s Labour governments. When Labour returned to government in 1974 the urgency had slackened but Prime Minister Wilson renewed attempts to reach a settlement in tandem with his Foreign Secretary Callaghan. However, other ministers were not minded to negotiate with the Rhodesian regime and overruled a plan for a constitutional conference in 1975 and, in 1977, a proposal that Britain commit armed forces to a Commonwealth force in Rhodesia. On the other hand, in 1976, in defiance of a Cabinet discussion that showed clearly that colleagues opposed any such move, Wilson and Callaghan sent envoys to hold discussions with the Rhodesian government. The first the Cabinet heard of this was from press reports, and it was then too late to stop it (Castle 1980, Benn 1989 and 1990).
