PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
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under the new government of Emile Gumbs and his two redoubtable lady colleagues. Although separation remains the main preoccupation of all local politicians, the government is addressing itself with commendable energy and commonsense to the pressing problem of improving the economy and plans are being worked up to develop tourism as one of its main props.
9.
The big activity for St Helena has been the re-fit and commissioning of their new ship renamed by Princess Margaret this week. This is costing a lot in grant-in-aid but Ministers here have accepted that our responsibilities to the descendants of people whom we planted on the island over the centuries require us to provide the means for them to remain there, since this is what they want. We have just won the Americans' approval in principle for the use of Ascension airfield (US built and maintained) by civil airlines. This is the first small sten in a very long haul to try to bring tourism to the islands with the hope of tapping French interest in visiting the superb Napoleonic museum at Longwood in St Helena. There are huge obstacles but we think it right to try. Brian Kendall from St Helena and Stephen Gillett are changing places.
10. Walter Wallace has been having an unpleasantly rough time in Tortola. The BVT will be out of gra.it-in-aid in two years time but have no intention the.. of seeking independence, wanting merely more internal autonomy approaching full internal self government. In April the Executive Council lent their support to an unprecedented impeachment of the OSAS Attorney General and Chief of Police and after Walter's decision to reprieve a convicted murderer in June LegCo have decided to boycott all official contact with the Governor and called for his instant replacement by an Islander and a petition to this effect from members of the WI Committee landed on my desk today. Tc guard against a reneat of the demonstrations which Derek Cudmore faced in 1973 (and which local ministers this time had graciously announced they would sunport) we had a frigate standing by but Walter's handling of a very tricky situation was musterly and all went off quietly. In the short ter the Governor has been sent to Coventry; in the medium term we shall need to re-state, and in some islands apply far more strictly, the Monson doctrine and in the longer term we must try to avoid the danger I see of boxing in our Governors with the Creech-Jones doctrine. As Walter put it, if it had been a white man he had reprieved there really would have been a riot in Tortola and if he had not there could have been one in the House of Commons. This was the exact looking-glass image of Bermuda last December. Reading of the recent injunction to the Isle of Man Government to revise its laws on birching I wonder how long it will be before decisions are made and clearer guidance issued on this issue, which, however, is extremely sensitive for Ministers here.
11. In Anguilla and Montserrat we have had difficulties in handling civil service salary claims: these are partly our fault here because of a gap in the budgetary aid procedure instructions which do not spell out how to handle future salaries awards in the annual budget exercise leaving a chink through which Austin Bramble is trying to demand the use of the 1977 surplus balance. We are planning to put this right in a revised despatch. Bramble has shown commendable resource in bringing
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