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CONFIDENTIAL
RECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY AND THE PREMIER OF BERMUDA AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE AT 1725 ON THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 1977
Present:
The Rt Hon Dr. David Owen, MP
Mr JS Wall
The Hon J David Gibbons Mr David Wilkinson
1.
After welcoming Mr Gibbons, Dr Owen invited him to describe the present situation in Bermuda. Mr Gibbons said that Bermuda had come through the recession extremely well. Economically the country was prosperous but they were still working at the question of race relations. Dr Owen would know that Bermuda had equal proportions of black and white Ministers in the Cabinet but the Government had lost some black support recently and needed to recoup their losses. He hoped Dr Owen might stop off in Bermuda on his way back from the United States at some time and see for himself the kind of society which Bermuda had developed.
2. Mr Gibbons said that he was delighted with Sir Peter Ramsbotham. The new Governor would be very good for Bermuda, not least because Bermuda was going to be talking to the United States about the future of certain base areas and also wished to strengthen her links with the Americans on a long term basis. Sir Peter Ramsbotham's help with informal contacts with US Congressmen and Senators would be invaluable. Sir Peter Ramsbotham's concept of his job was also appreciated by the Bermuda Government: Sir Peter believed that the Governor should adopt a somewhat lower profile than in the past and give more prominence to the Government.
3. Mr Gibbons said that the Opposition, and a large section of his own Party, had believed that there was considerable popular support for the idea of independence, but the feedback they were getting from the newspaper polls showed that this was not the case. The people of Bermuda did not like the idea of incurring additional costs as a result of independence. Most Bermudians travelled very widely and they had certain fears that the passport of an independent Bermuda might be less acceptable than a British passport. They also now had the comfort of being able to call on British consular services world-wide while incurring none of the costs of having to maintain their own missions in London, Washington or Ottawa. In short, they did not wish to part lightly with their prosperity and, with a per capita income of $7,000 per annum, Bermuda was extremely prosperous.
4. In response to a question from Dr Owen, Mr Gibbons said that the Government was committed to bringing out a White Paper on independence. They would take soundings to see what the general attitude to independence was and, if the findings were adverse, the Government would go into the next election on the basis of
1
/opposition
CONFIDENTIAL