Benazir BhuttoPrime Minister, Mr. Zardari, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
This is a very informal and friendly luncheon and not an occasion for long speeches.
But I would not want to let it pass without wishing you, your husband and the members of your delegation a very warm welcome indeed on your first visit to [end p1] Britain as Prime Minister.
Of course you know our country well, as did your late Zulfikar Ali Bhuttofather and many other members of your family. In your autobiography, you describe your time at Oxford as the best years of your life.
May I say how proud we are of the connection [end p2] with your family, which has done much to enrich our country.
Your family's contribution to Pakistan—both before and after independence—has been outstanding and your election as Prime Minister has been fully in that tradition.
We all know how much agony you and your family went through over the decade and more [end p3] before your election and how bravely you bore it. But you held to the belief that “patience has its sweet reward” —and indeed it has.
You and I first met—with your father—in Rawalpindi, when I was on a visit there as Leader of the Opposition: and I remember that you came to see me again in my room at the House of Commons, when you were [end p4] President of the Oxford Union.
There was no doubt even then of your exceptional talents and personality.
So it was no surprise to us that, after your great election victory, you plunged straight into dealing with Pakistan's problems, in a way which has won very wide admiration right throughout the world. [end p5]
We are no less admiring of your international initiatives, in particular your meeting and friendship with Mr. Gandhi, and your highly successful visit to Washington.
All this augurs very well for Pakistan's future under your leadership, although my own experience has taught me that there are always unexpected difficulties on the road [end p6] ahead and one has to be prepared for setbacks as well as for victories.
But one very great step forward will come later this year, when Pakistan is set to resume its rightful place in the Commonwealth—and nothing will give people in this country more pleasure than that. The Commonwealth needs Pakistan's contribution, and it will be the greatest [end p7] credit to you that your country's return to it took place under your leadership.
[And of course Eugenia Charles and I will look forward to having a little help in future at Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings. It's always left to the women to be practical. I think it was Hermione Gingold who said: [end p8] “there are too many men in politics, and not enough elsewhere” .]
There are few countries outside Europe and the United States with which Britain has closer ties of history and family than with Pakistan. Many hundreds of thousands of British citizens are of Pakistan origin and they make a vitally important contribution to [end p9] our society.
They have the values of a firm faith, a commitment to family life, a belief in hard work and enterprise, a respect for the law and a will to succeed—and they have kept those values at the core of their life in Britain.
And more than anything, we admire the [end p10] contribution which Pakistan has made to supporting the Afghan people and providing a home for millions of refugees. That is something which we—indeed the whole world—honours and respects.
Now, I've spoken longer than I intended: and I wasn't ever President of the Oxford Union!
Let me just say that everyone in this room, [end p11] indeed everyone in this country, wants you to succeed and Pakistan to succeed—and it is in that spirit that we welcome you, your husband and your delegation, and wish you well.