TNAG-0721-FCO40-919-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 116

SPERCH NOTES

REGOLONI 3ATION

Our

1. The British Goverment accept that the age of colonialism ie past. We mibscribe fully to UII policies on anlf-dotorulation for colonial peoplen. Where the majority of the population of one of our Dependent Territories show they want independence

we do all we can to help them achieve it in as rapid and orderly a manner as possible. Our purpose always is to create atates that are both politically and economically viable. proramme of Aid for the Depmident Territories is specifically garr d to achieving this. Only a decade or so ago there were doubts whether States with mich long then a few hundred thousand

inhabitants could ever be viable. Views on this have changed and there are now independent atatos already in existence with fower inhabitants than a mill English country torm.

2.

f

Despite this policy Britain still has responsibility for 17 Dependent Overseas Torritories – 18 if you include Argilla which, though still constitutionally part of the Associated State of St Kitts-ïovis-Anguilla, is administered as though it were a Dependent Territory. There are several rossons why thin should be so. First and foremost, it would be against our policy to force independence on Statos before the inhabiteata themselves believe they are ready for it. The programa towarða independence is continuing in a mumber of our Dependent Territorien and we expect at least three or four of them to be independent by the end of 1900. In somn Territories there are political obatacles to independence, either because, like the Folkland Islands and Belize, our sovereignty is disputed by other countrion, or beomune for historical reasons independenes 19 not an option, as in Gibralter and Hong Kong. In other ***** even by the standards of recent year, it rensing deubtful 47 x a Territory could ever survive an en independent Stater the extreme example of this is Pitonirn with a population of less then 100, unless you count Territories like the British Indian Ocean Territory or the British Antarctic Territory which have no permanent population at all.

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