COVERING CONFIDENTIAL
HKG.02511
22 MAR 1979
6
Mr McLaren HKGD
I do ge
ills
dc Mr Stratton
Mr Posnett
without enclosure
FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITOR IES
1.
Please refer to Mr Posnett's minute to me of 8 February copied to you. I now attach a copy of the draft as it stands today.
2. I have sent copies to those Governors who took part in the Bridgetown Conference last month and to Stanley Arthur and John Edwards.
3. I think this is the time to pass the exercise back to you to consider the points Mr Posnett makes in his minute to me and to oversee the necessary clearing within Whitehall (FCO and ODM) before submitting to Ministers.
4. I should mention here that in an informal discussion with Mr Rowlands recently in which I described the exercise we had done at the Governors' Conference on this despatch, he expressed great interest in becoming involved before the draft gets too fixed and also suggested the possibility of his calling a meeting of Chief Ministers etc in which he would put to them the sort of points which we had in mind should be explained by Governors. I have considerable doubts about this way of going about things but I think we can leave that until we are clearer just what it is we want to say.
9 February 1979 chwen,
PC
PC Duff
West Indian and Atlantic Department
His was discussed briefly at & Stratton's meet on today. N Stratton made it plain that he favored a short dispatch, draftal without any
spossible (irrespective of consultation with Governors, to be sent as soon as when the General Election is likely to take place - like you, he believes it unlikely that a conservative Government would wish to prove any other policy).
further
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COVERING CONFIDENTIAL
W.E. Qatill
1242
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