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d.
e.
f.
British Solomon Islands Protectorate and some of the Associated States in the Caribbean, If Ministers agree, then these few territories seem likely to provide a pretty thin diet for a "watchdog" committee of real ability. Even this diet would not be as substantial as it looks because the Committee could not be allowed to concern itself with any of the Associated States or eg Bermuda which have full internal self-government."
Lastly, there are the remaining, mainly small, dependencies which will require special treatment if they are ever to become independent but whose individual futures and admini- stration can only intermittently be of interest to Parlia- ment, as distinct from the responsible Minister.
But a conscientious Select Committee would be bound to try and visit as many territories as it could reasonably regu- larly and its reports must be expected to contain criticisms of individual administrations from time to time. Also the Committee would, in some territories certainly, have repre- sentations made to it, often for political reasons, in an attempt to play the House of Commons off against the local administration and against the Foreign & Commonwealth Secretary. Thus the Committee's reports and recommendations, if they were not obviously to be eyewash, could, because they are published,
i. at times expose unwelcome surface to the Committee of
24 at the United Nations; and
ii.. appear to be taking sides in local politics, which on
occasion could be both undignified and embarrassing.
The area covered by a specialist Select Committee on the Future of the Dependent Territories would overlap with those of the Sub-Committee on Defence and External Affairs, of the Expenditure Committee as well as the Select Committee on Overseas Development. Indeed there is probably almost no
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