Sanctions Immoral, Thatcher Argues

LONDON — Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fended off heated opposition criticism Tuesday in the third week of intense debate over her stand against South African sanctions, telling Parliament that sanctions are immoral and would cause unemployment not only in southern Africa but also in Britain.

“I don’t take lectures,” Thatcher responded sharply when the opposition Labor Party leader, Neil Kinnock, charged that her anti-sanctions policy helps contribute to the deaths of black children in South Africa.

Among the many outside observers at Tuesday’s particularly raucous session of the regular weekly “Prime Minister’s Question Time” in the House of Commons was Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, here on a two-day official visit. Shevardnadze looked alternately bemused and baffled as members of Parliament hurled insults at Thatcher.