PERSONAL AND CONFIDENI 1 AL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
Telephone 01-
OAGS: Turks and Caicos, BVI, Anguilla, Caymans, Montserrat, St Helena and Mr Lloyd Bermuda and BGR Barbados
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Our reference
Date
*/ix
67
M Quay Nig7/4
Mullajké
радна
5 September 1978
HKG.025/2
RECEIVED
12 SEP 1978
VISITS TO DEFENDENCIES BY MPs
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DESK OFFICER INDEX No
PA
NO. 51
REGISTRY Action Taken
ads recently Copy Cooper)
1. When Sir Douglas Dodás-Parker visitor in connection with complaints by aming porn pr against the Turks and Caicos administration he reminded him of a former Colonial Secretary's arrangements in 1965 to send Fs (one labour and one Conservative) to those dependencies which had
not had recent Hinisterial visits to advise him personally on what we should now be doing there. Mr Rowlands has asked us to advise him whether we think there would be advantage in repeating this exercise.
2. Visits were made to the Caymans, Turks and Caicos and St Helena. The Turks and Caicos report is light weight and not terribly helpful as a blue print for victory although it shows some understanding of the problems of the islands and has some ideas about improving communications. The report on St Helena was written at the time Thornton was filling everybody's minds and its consequent concentration on this aspect of St Helena affairs was in fact one of the few convincing reasons we were able to produce to Ministers when we recommended in 1976 that Thornton be declared a prohibited immigrant. The Caymans report, fascinating to read today with its description of a comparatively primitive society, made several sensible proposals which have been followed up.
7. As I see it, visits of this sort can have two main advantages: they can come up with new ideas for development and economic and perhaps even constitutional progress and they can increase the reservoir of local knowledge of dependencies' affairs among members of Parliament here, always a desirable objective.
4. Our first reaction in the department was that the need for specific visits was considerably less than it may have been 13 years ago because of the regular tours made under the auspices of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Ansociation. In 1975 Lord" Willis and Messrs Blenkinsop, Lane, McNamara and Shersby visited St Vincent,
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