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(It is possible that Anguilla, which is at present still de jure part of an Associated State, may also fall in this category some time in the future).
6. The Seychelles is now on the normal direct road to independence, and may achieve it in 1976. Bermuda (which is economically viable and already has an advanced constitution and a ministerial form of government), and the BSIP and the Gilbert Islands (after the separation of the Ellice Islands in 1976) where ministerial constitutions have recently been introduced, could not follow the conventional mad to sovereign independence. The Ellice Islands
might follow at a slower pace.
7. The problem of the "micro-state" in the modern world is regularly discussed in UN and academic fora, but the lack of substantial population has not in itself in the past prevented small states from achieving independence (eg Nauru, with a population of 7,000); and a lack of economic resources has not always been regarded as a bar to independence (as in the case of Malawi and the former High Commission Territories in Southern Africa).
Present Policies towards the Dependent Territories
8. In recent years because of diversity of the Dependent Territories and the difficulty of formulating specific long term objectives, within the framework of the general principles described in paragraph 4 above, standards of day-to-day administration have tended to become ends in themselves. We have tried to provide the Dependent Territories with security and political stability, and with efficient and honest government, and to help their inhabitants to achieve rates of economic development and standards of social welfare at least comparable with, and in many cases superior to, those accepted in neighbouring countries in the region. In this context the "reasonable needs" of Dependent Territories have always been recognised as a first charge on our aid funds. Wherever possible we have tried to encourage the emergence of locally elected governments with increasing responsibility for their own internal
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