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1975. They asked the British Government to meet the extra costs of independence as well as to give an assurance of continued capital aid. After negotiations in Seychelles and London, an agreement acceptable to both sides was reached. This consisted of a soft loan of £10m in theory disbursable over the first two years of independence; budgetary support on a declining scale over the first four years; and continuing technical assistance on a substantial scale. Several attempts were subsequently made by the Seychelles leaders to seek increased aid allocations, but these were successfully resisted on the grounds that the settlement was a generous one, and that on any calculation of need the total would be less, not more.
8. The question of the BIOT islands could not be so quickly resolved, because it also involved the Americans. The Seychellois, particularly the SPUP, demanded the return of the islands before independence. There was agreement at official
level in Whitehall that the best solution would be to hand the
islands back to Seychelles, since they were not being used for British and American defence purposes as originally envisaged; and that this could be done without endangering our position in
the ex-Mauritius BIOT island of Diego Garcia. But this had not been agreed with the Americans when the Constitutional Conference opened in London in March 1975, and all that could be promised at that conference was that the question would be further considered.
The First Session of the Constitutional Conference (March 1975)
9. Both the SDP and the SPUP sent large delegations to the Conference at Marlborough House, which was chaired by Miss Lestor, with Sir Duncan Watson as alternate. As first there was rapid progress on non-controversial matters. But the SPUP stuck to their demand for fresh elections before independence; and were not prepared to agree to entrenchment of some of the essential provisions of the Constitution except on terms which, in SPUP eyes, would make effective government impossible.
Miss Lestor
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