CONFIDENTIAL
he is simply under Whitehall's thumb.
However that may be,
I think we do have to be particularly careful during the next few months to cultivate our relationship with the Governor and to make him feel that he is thoroughly supported in what he is trying to do in Bermuda.
5. This brings me to the immediate future. The Governor told me that he was planning to meet on 19 December with the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition, plus two or three supporters each, to discuss how to set up the enquiry he referred to at the end of his television broadcast on 12 December. The Governor had been doubtful as to whether Mrs. Browne-Evans would agree to join this discussion but heard while I was with him on 15 December that she had accepted. There are at present three separate enquiries going on in Bermuda (criminal law, the grievances of the small businessman and racial matters generally) and the Premier's idea was that yet another enquiry was unnecessary. This obviously would not satisfy the Opposition. The Governor's objective would be to get the two sides talking, and to finish up with a Board of Enquiry composed of Bermudians, possibly under outside.
chairmanship (e.g. Professor Telford George who is at present heading the criminal law enquiry).
6.
The Governor would regard this enquiry, if it comes about, as being part of the patient process he believes is needed to bring about gradual change in Bermudan society and attitudes. He reminded me that it is only fifteen years since Bermuda abandoned racial segregation.
7. I asked him about movement towards independence.
He said that a referendum in the island would probably give a small majority against. A majority of the blacks want it. Most businessmen, black and white, do not. A majority of whites do not. The division is therefore largely black/white, but strictly speaking is not a division for racial reasons. The Governor's own plan is to aim at independence in five or six years time, provided that in the interim
(a)
he can get people really to debate the question and think about all its aspects so that a consensus in favour begins to
emerge
(b) the Opposition can be persuaded not to think of themselves
as the anti-Government underdog, but as a responsible political party.
His own attitude will be neutral. He will not push, but will not stand in the way. He will devote a good deal of time to cultivating the members of the Opposition, and attempting to mix them, in his own house, with the UBP.
Democracy
8.
I fear I did not go into this very thoroughly. The Governor said that the Boundary Commission would be sitting again early next
/year,
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.