substantial measure of responsibility for policy in regard to the terms and conditions of the civil service a responsibility which under the Constitution belongs to the Governor.
10. Mr Kershaw's visit in 1973 was by no means the first
occasion nor will it be the last on which Ministers here have
sought delegation to them of responsibility for the police and internal security. A similar proposal was made in January 1971 when Sir John Paul was Governor here and when I was serving in
your Department. On that occasion Sir John looked with favour
7.
upon the idea of a revocable entrustment to a Minister of this responsibility. Although his view on that occasion was based largely upon local circumstances, it is interesting to note how different was the opinion he expressed in July 1973 following his period of service in the Bahamas where the system of entrust- ment to Ministers had been in operation. Your response to the 1971 request was negative and was based principally on the
precepts that
11.
ఓ.
b.
maintenance of law and order in a dependency is a matter for which Parliament holds you, Sir, particularly responsible and this responsibility cannot effectively
be exercised if the Governor's powers have been
entrusted to a Minister; and
the ultimate sanction, and an inescapable obligation
for HMG in one of its dependent territories, is the
deployment of British troops.
These precepts are still valid; but it is worth looking again at the arguments put forward by Mr Price in favour of
entrustment to a Minister of responsibility for the police.
His contention was based on the need to ensure undivided loyalty
7.
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