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QUO
PERUNT
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DGO 2/19 M. ung 189/2
WE Quantrill Esq
Deputy Governor's Office
Hong Kong and General Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Dear Quantrill,
Government House, Bermuda
27 November, 1979
Entercal PA
823/12
SEMINAR ON THE FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
We have read, with interest, the summary of the Seminar discussions sent with your letter of 13 November.
At this stage, we should like to make one
comment.
2. The summary states (at the foot of page 3) that
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Bermuda is clearly capable of becoming independent and the events of 1977 have provided the catalyst that have set it on that path.
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In our view, the second part of this statement is misleading. A Green Paper about independence had been promised in the 1976 Speech from the Throne, at the Opening of Parliament that year. The promise was made because Sir John Sharpe was warm advocate of independence. And my expectation then was that the Green Paper would reflect his views, and that, with the UBP taking its lead from him, Bermuda might well become independent by 1980.
3.
In the event, as you may know, he was faced with a division in the party and a challenge to his leadership. Although he pressed on with the Green Paper (which was published in mid 1977 and was largely his work), it could not, in the circumstances, give any positive lead. By the time it was debated, he had resigned, and had been succeeded, as Premier, by Mr Gibbons, whose attitude towards independence was that, although probably inevitable, it should be postponed for at least five years, and perhaps eight or more. All the best evidence available suggests that most Bermudians agreed, and still agree, with him. The December 1977 riots did not significantly
influence their views. Nor did the fact that the Pitt Commission favoured independence. If anything, its Report may have been counter- productive: it certainly added no new momentum. Indeed, the long- promised White Paper on the subject has only just been published, more than fifteen months after the Commission reported. It should be
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