TNAG-0429-FCO40-494-Programme-Analysis-and-Review-(PAR)-Future-of-Dependent-Terr-1974 — Page 137

CONFIDENTIAL

(i) It may not be necessary to retain

sovereignty in order to benefit from the

EEZ resources of our dependencies;

provided they are exploited reasonably

soon, HMG will benefit both from the

reduction of the aid and administration

bill and from the increased availability

of their resources to the industrial

world as a whole. The case for

retaining sovereignty rests on whether

we can or need to direct firms to

deliver oil, minerals or fish to

Britain rather than to other destinations.

It is questionable whether this will be

necessary or feasible in the case of oil

(for which the Caribbean area seems the

most likely source) or of minerals

(for which the Pacific Isles are the

most likely source); but the need to

secure control over alternative sources

of fish will be an increasingly weighty

consideration.

CONFIDENTIAL

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