Editing Harold Wilson (section)

====Africa====
The British "retreat from Empire" had made headway by 1964 and was to continue during Wilson's administration. [[Southern Rhodesia]] was not granted independence, principally because Wilson refused to grant independence to the white minority government headed by Rhodesian prime minister [[Ian Smith]] which was not willing to extend unqualified [[voting rights]] to the native African population. Smith's defiant response was a [[Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]], on 11 November 1965. Wilson's immediate recourse was to the United Nations, and in 1965, the [[Security Council]] imposed sanctions, which were to last until official independence in 1979. This involved [[Beira Patrol|British warships blockading the port of Beira]] to try to cause economic collapse in Rhodesia. Wilson was applauded by most nations for taking a firm stand on the issue (and none extended diplomatic recognition to the Smith régime). A number of nations did not join in with sanctions, undermining their efficiency. Certain sections of public opinion started to question their efficacy, and to demand the toppling of the régime by force. Wilson declined to intervene in Rhodesia with military force, believing the British population would not support such action against their "kith and kin". The two leaders met for discussions aboard British warships, {{HMS|Tiger|C20|2}} in 1966 and {{HMS|Fearless|L10|2}} in 1968. Smith subsequently attacked Wilson in his memoirs, accusing him of delaying tactics during negotiations and alleging duplicity; Wilson responded in kind, questioning Smith's good faith and suggesting that Smith had moved the goal-posts whenever a settlement appeared in sight.<ref name="Government1">Harold Wilson, "The Labour Government, 1964–70: a Personal Record".</ref> The matter was still unresolved at the time of Wilson's resignation in 1976.  Wilson had a good relationship with [[Siaka Stevens]] of Sierra Leone; the two leaders attempted to work together to find a solution to the question of [[Biafra]] in Nigeria.<ref>Biafra by Peter Schwab, 1971 – pg. 105</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=4 January 1998 |title=British interests, Nigerian tragedy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/british-interests-nigerian-tragedy-1136684.html |access-date=1 December 2022 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |first1=Michael |last1=Leapman }}</ref> But despite this, the British government was actively sending arms, munitions and other equipment to the [[Military dictatorship in Nigeria|Nigerian military junta]], and consistently denied any wrongdoing by the government of [[Nigeria]]: Nigerian writer [[Chinua Achebe]] wrote that this may have cost him his position.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/21/buried-50-years-britain-shamesful-role-biafran-war-frederick-forsyth |title=Opinion: Buried for 50 years: Britain's shameful role in the Biafran war |first1=Frederick |last1=Forsyth |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=21 January 2000 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Boubjailly |first=Vance |date=25 January 1970 |title=An Epitaph For Biafra |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/25/archives/an-epitaph-for-biafra-an-epitaph-for-biafra.html |access-date=13 July 2024 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>