TNAG-0715-FCO40-911-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-4 — Page 100

CODE 18-77

Mr McLaren

Reference

CONF

CONFIDENTIAL

RECIM

the 025/2

12 OCT 1978

DICK OFF.m

INDEX

2.51

REGISTRY

Action Tuken

FUTURE OF DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

66)1.

no

We discussed your minute of 1 September and Mr Clarke's tentative draft skeleton of the background paper. I have subsequently spoken to Mr Clarke and agreed with him that before we could define the outlines of the background paper, it would be helpful to prepare a rough draft of the covering despatch. I have therefore had another detailed look at the papers to try to see exactly what is needed.

2.

Mr Stratton defined the requirement, in his minute of 9 August at folio 63 below, as being to "prepare a revised, shortened and yet more comprehensive version of Mr Callaghan's circular despatch of 1975 and its enclosure" This despatch purported to embody the policy decisions deriving from the 1973 PAR report on the Dependent Territories, though as a policy document it is not very satisfactory. Much of it does little more than re-present the options in the PAR, without making any attempt to choose between them. The key decision was to endorse the principle of "accelerated decolonisation" - but this was not, as one would expect, a positive policy of persuading colonies to move to independence faster than they would otherwise have done; rather it was simply a vague resolve, "to create the necessary conditions to make it possible for us to relinquish our responsibilities for our remaining Dependent Territories". The paper ended up by promising that the geographical departments would initiate individual territorial studies "to define the political objectives appropriate to each territory"

but in

fact nothing of the kind was ever done. As far as I can see, the 1975 paper has had no significant effect on anything that has happened since.

3. I am not sure that this matters. There seems to be a perfectly workable policy on decolonisation which everybody seems to be aware of, although it does not seem to be systematically set out anywhere. I suggest therefore that what we need is not so much a revised version of the 1975 document as a new paper written from scratch, stating clearly what our present policies are (as I understand it, it is not proposed that we should re-examine those policies or recommend any changes).

4.

The despatch should therefore begin by stating clearly that our policy towards the Dependent Territories is:

i.

ii.

to encourage, and in every way assist, progress towards independence for those territories where this is feasible and in accordance with the clearly expressed wish of the majority of the population;

not to force independence on those territories which do not want it, or which could not sustain it.

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CONFIDENTIAL