TNAG-0832-FCO40-1040-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1979 — Page 19

С

Mr Quantrill, HKGD

Mr Burns, PS/PUS

CONFIDENTIAL

(w/39

cc. Mr Stratton o.r.

POLICY TOWARDS DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

(Mr Burns' minute of 12 September)

Point b.

1. We recently did an exercise on the difficult Special respon- sibilities of WIAD OAGs and I attach a copy. It paints a com- plex and inconsistent picture for 2 main reasons: because con- stitutions have been amended piece-meal and not always with an eye to what applied in other dependencies and, I suspect, because of Lack of recognition at times of the problems caused by granting excessive instalments of internal self-government before the way to full independence was clear and agreed. Little Montserrat, for instance, has a very advanced constitution, agreed at

agreed at the time she nearly became an Associated State, which we would be reluctant to grant today. Mr Posnett's despatch from Belmopan of 27 February 1974 describes some of the problems which flow from the Constitutional overdraft.

2.

More specifically, defence and external affairs in a depen- dency mean Britain's defence and external affairs. One would not expect this to need spelling out but Turks and Caicos Ministers wanted recently to sell an island to an American consortium, probably Mafia linked, which would have a seat in the UN, handle its own immigration and so on. The same Government also seeks to issue their own T & C passports.

3.

Although we have remained responsible for the defence and external affairs of Antigua, we were not, as the PUS will recall, able to monitor and interfere in the purely internal affairs of the island which led to the scandal of the Space Research Corporation and the suspected arms sales to S. Africa.

4 =

Responsibility for internal security enabled us 2 years ago, with Ministers' backing, to direct the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands not to license a casino until certain conditions were fulfilled. In the BVI the Chief Minister, a devoted family man, has for years been urging the appointment of his son as Permanent Secretary in his own Ministry, Finance, or alternatively as Chief of Police. We needed our powers over the public service to insist on the appointment of qualified men and we used it.

5.

I could multiply instances and they will all seem small beer. But they make up the nuts and bolts of dependent territories ad- ministration. If we delegate too much we make things harder for ourselves and they are hard enough.

Point C(i), (ü)

6.

There will always be those who are disposed to

the

/interests

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