(3002) Dmd. 145244 400M 10/73 Lld. 839/1
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Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified,
PRIVACY MARKING
................................................. In Confidence
DRAFT DOPC MEMORANDUM
Type 1 +
FROM
To:-
CABINET
Telephone No. Ext,
Department
DEFENCE AND OVERSEA POLICY COMMITTEE
REVIEW OF THE FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
1.
Joint Memorandum by the Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and
the Minister of Overseas Development.
The attached Review was completed in November
1973, but could not be submitted to Ministers collect:
ively before the General Election. It examines the
costs and benefits of Her Majesty's Government' S
continued responsibility for the remaining 18
dependencies and 6 Associated States (now 5, as
Grenada is independent). It concludes that, except
in the case of Hong Kong, British Antarctic Territory
Falkland Islands Dependencies, British Indian Ocean
Territory and St Helena/Ascension Island, which in
our view it is in HMG's continuing interest to retain
as dependencies, we should now adopt a conscious
policy of "accelerated decolonisation". There is not
much to choose between the quantifiable costs of such
The
a policy and those of continued dependence.
choice is essentially political, though obviously
we cannot ignore its financial implications.
*-
POLITICAL CONCLUSIONS
ICAL
2. We agree with this conclusion, and with the
recommendation that its implementation must be
CONFIDENTIAL
/ com: XtraTEN