CONFIDENTIAL
Reference.
CC: Mr Duff, WIAD
Mr Pennock, ODM
13
Mr McLaren
Hong Kong & General Dept
DECOLONISATION DESPATCH
1. Mr Snodgrass has shown me the draft despatch in the form sent to you from Mr Stratton with his minute of 6 March.
2.
I find paragraph 7 (point 6) very odd. The suggestion appears to be that territories without a programme for independence should not have a Minister responsible for finance if they are in receipt of budgetary aid. If they do not need budgetary aid then they may have a
Minister.
we
3. Surely this is a mistake? I can understand that they might wish to retain control over financial policy where the government is inexperienced (as we did for the Gilberts, Tuvalu and the Solomons some time after a ministerial system was introduced) but whether the territory requires budgetary support seems neither here nor there. There is no incompatibility between budgetary aid and ministerial responsibility for finance, and the two have been regular features
of the since at least 1960.
4.
This change of policy may be a result of unfortunate experience in the West Indies. Our own experience has not led us to such a conclusion. Indeed I think we regret not having introduced a Minister of Finance for Tuvalu earlier than independence year.
19 March 1979
Ms Quantri
Rey
See (27)
R G PETTITT SPD (G51A/G)
This strengthens my
Views
that each
can
sha
be
treated
on
its
merits.
HKG.025/1
22 MAR 19 Y
No
82217
CONFIDENTIAL
√ 20
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