Well, Labour and the Lib Dems clearly back Mugabe, the ultra racist of outr time. Tells us a lot about Hain and Burstow, and their contempt for of the people of Zimbabwe and their suffering under the tyranny of Mugabe.

Doug, Glasgow,

Ian Smith was a true African,genuine and patriotic.You don't necessarlily have to be black to be African as we have discovered in reverse form in our own country.
He was one of the true heroes of Africa as opposed to Mandela who was a terrorist and who never vowed publicly to renounce violence hence his prolonged incarceration in Robben Island.
He was given the chance to publicly renounce violence but refused,so he was put back in his cell.
In those days Smith's main worry,and one that proved to be 100% correct,was to stop the invasion of the curse of Communism,a theoretically acceptable ideology peddled by corrupt despots rooting for their own piece of power,as was the Roman Catholic Church for the past 1000 years,preying on the fears and weaknesses of the ignorant and vulnerable by means of a regime of fear and oppression.
The West let him down badly and he,like Enoch Powell,was proved right.
Communism has been exposed as a sham,but Mugabe is still there.
Ian Smith was a hero.

alan maddox, wirral , england

It's about time some people in Britain get their facts right - Rhodesia never practised 'Apartheid' as in South Africa. Rhodesia was never part of South Africa as some of the misinformed think.
During UDI, South Africa invited Rhodesia to join the Union as a province of that country, but Smith and the Rhodesian people declined because they were against the South African Governments apartheid principles! Unlike Mugabe, Smith was a
compassionate man towards all law abiding people of all races.

Kev, Wokingham, Berkshire

Wow. Comparing Smith and Mugabe is all about guilt. Can't you see it? There is still so much guilt lingering in the collective souls of so many in Europe and America from the oppression and de-humanization of Africa. But guilt is a good thing. It is your saving grace. It means you still have hope.

Remember, the people who attempt to de-humanize others, those are the ones who lose their humanity in the end.

Patrick, New Orleans, USA

Typical statement by Hain and representative of the PC Left wing - as soon as one has an opposing view debate is stifled by using the racist card.

As a former Zimbabwean I resent Hain's simple perspective - he does however represent the party and culture of spin so we shouldn't expect anything else I guess.

John, Berks, UK

I don't why so many people leaving comments are comparing Smith to Mugabe. Yes of course Mugabe is a complete nightmare for Zimbabwe, but that doesn't make Smith's apartheid regime right!

Those who say the country was an economic success story when Smith was in power should look at who the wealth went to. It certainly wasn't the black population.

Vinny R, London, UK

Peter Hain is so totally blind to the situation in Zimbabwe that his comments should be treated with utmost disdain. Can he not see how Mugabe has led this country to the brink of oblivion? Not only the above, but he is in a position of power within OUR Govenment which should now question his judgement. Just what are his thoughts on the Mugabe junta? He was a pain back in the 60's and is a pain right up to present time. Students like him are the backbone of socialism, all theory and spume, very little ideas to make life better for people. By not being overtly critical of the Zimbabwe leadership, he is condoning it, and prolonging the suffering in that country. Was life better under Smith?

Chris Dare, Crawley, west sussex

I can't believe that polititions in the UK are sacked, or asked to leave for exercising their right of speech!
How can you have democracy if no-one is allowed to express an opinion?

Richard Gane, Zürich, Switzerland

Peter Hain should be ashamed of what he has brought about in what was once a pround and wealthy country!

Nick Hill, London,

Willis is entitled to his view, and nobody in their right mind can say that Mugabe has led that benighted nation better than Smith did. It really is time for the fascists in Labour's thought police to be put back in their box and for free speech to once again be the rule in Britain.

Matt, London, UK

You cannot suppress the truth. The indigenous population of the then Rhodesia were better off under Ian Smith than they are now, under 'one of their own'!

WelshPatriot, Wales,

I think you will find that the vast majority of Zimbabweans, certainly the Matebele, will agree with this view.

From a human rights perspective, Smith was certainly better for the country than Mugabe, from a prosperity perspective too.

Britain (with South Africa) certainly didn't want Mugabe in power and banked on a Muzarewa victory but misjudged the situation.

As for Hain, well he has always favoured Mugabe remaining in power subject to a few cosmetic moans and groans.

Justin, Hong Kong,

I very much doubt if the great majority of the population of Zimbabwe today would vote for Mugabe in preference to the regime as it was under Smith. Sadly, the stifling cult of political correctness has made it almost impossible to conduct any sensible reasoned argument or discussion where race or ethnic issues are concerned.
Suppression of such discussions only helps to further the cause of extremists. Peter Hain's comments about Smith's 'white minority tyranny' merely demonstrate his lack of genuine concern for people, in preference for perceived political popularity.

David Parker, Carlisle, U.K.

Even the black Rhodesians were better off under white minority rule of Smith than they are now under black 'democratic' rule that leads to leaders like Muggabe.

George, London,

Ian Smith may have been regarded as a racist by some - normally European as it's always been my experience that the whites are regarded as a tribe by most black southern africans - exactly as other blacks regard each other (Xhosa-Zulu, Ndebele-MaShona,Hutu-Tutsi etc). When regarding Ian White as a racist I would like very much to know the opinion of such enlightened observers as regards the indulgence of many African leaders of their own tribes in preference to others . The ony true difference between Smith and other African leaders was that he appeared white to Europeans, while the other africans were black. Remember that there frequently greater genetic differences between neighbouring african tribes than between white and black people. Smith may have been "a dour, humourless man who could see no point of view but his own" as according to the high commissioner at the time, but I don't remember Mugabe ever been a bunch of laughs. For all his faults, Smith remained. others didn't

John, Knutsford, UK

I suppose one of the measures of Ian Smith's rule would be whether black Zimbabweans prefer Robert Mugabe's rule to that of Smith's. After all, they are the ones who have to live there not Mr Hain.

David Chandler, Bromley, England

So Mr Smith was white of the European nation and started a civil war, and Mr Mugabe is a Black of the Shona nation who not only started a civil war against the Ndebele (10 – 30,000 killed by N. Korean trained Zimbabwe Army detachments during the early 1980s) but has since led the whole country to rack and ruin, poverty and starvation.
Who will be deemed to have caused the greatest suffering and be defined as the greater racist?

David West, Templecombe, UK

Peter Hains is one of these dangerous fantasist that lives in a dream world about the former Rhodesia he deserted when the going got tough. He totally ignores the facts that black Africans living under the gestapo boots of Robert Mugabe, dying of Aids or malnutrition at 40 years of age are far worse off now than living under a benign apartheid of former Southern Rhodesia. Hains lacked the backbone to stay in Rhodesia where he could have used his writing talents to help make gradual change but like all of Labours & Libdems ideological crazies, they refuses to face reality and are a danger to all around them. In an ideal world we wouldn't have apartheids, dictatorships or Islamic fundamentalists running countries but sometimes those citizens are better off under that form of rule than when idealists like him wage war to change it. Blair on Iraq and Wilson on Rhodesia both show Labours failure to understand real world politics and the subsequent genocide that will follow their meddling.

Mike, Alicante, Spain