TNAG-0834-FCO40-1042-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Office-seminar-on-the-future-of-Bri-1979 — Page 253

CODE 18-77

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SEMINAR ON FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES

1. I visited the Institute of Development Studies at Brighton on 1 March and discussed our proposed seminar with Mr Percy Selwyn (the Fellow of the Institute who has been nominated as my point of contact for matters concerned with the content of the seminar), Miss Margaret Clyne (from the Institute's administrative staff, who is to deal with the administrative arrangements for the seminar) and Mr Michael Ward (another Fellow of the Institute, an Economist who has done a lot of work for the ODM in the Pacific Territories).

We agreed the following as a possible outline programme:

2.

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Monday 24 September:

Participants assemble during afternoon

7pm

Dinner

3.

8.15pm

Tuesday 25 September:

HKG.025/4

26 MA

do 27/7 ny88

$27/2

Tuesday evening:

Wednesday 26 September:

10 -12 am

Introductory session: talk by FCO representative on the present policy and the reasons behind it, followed by discussion

All day devoted to working sessions on topics, such as the following:

-

the experience of other Colonial Powers;

the views of the inhabitants of the Dependent Territories;

the role of aid;

the alternatives to independence;

the special problems of small island territories;

- defence problems.

Possibly some form of entertainment (eg a film show or a night out in Brighton) or a formal dinner.

Round up session, followed by lunch for those who want it and dispersal

We agreed that we should not formalise the programme for

We should then try Tuesday until it was clear who would be coming. to construct the timetable around the special interests of key participants. We did not envisage any long speeches for this day: the general pattern would be that an appropriate specialist would introduce a topic, talking for say 10 minutes, and then conduct a discussion session. For the session on the problem as seen from the point of view of the inhabitants of the Dependent Territories,

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