TNAG-0834-FCO40-1042-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-Office-seminar-on-the-future-of-Bri-1979 — Page 254

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we hoped to be able to identify perhaps as many as three or four people from different territories who could participate in the seminar and form a panel to answer questions.

4. If, as we all agreed desirable, the number of participants in the seminar were kept down to no more than about 20-22, then there would be no advantage in splitting the seminar into sub- committees to deal with particular topics. It would be better if all participants were present for all discussion.

5. For the final session on the Wednesday morning, we should need to appoint somebody to try to draw the threads together from the various discussion sessions and present a consensus view. However, we all accepted that it was unlikely that the seminar would lead to any brilliant new insights, or lead to any radical policy changes. The primary purpose was to provide a forum for people interested in the problems of the Dependent Territories to get together with those in Whitehall who are actually dealing with official policy on the subject.

Participants

6. We discussed the various names that had been suggested already, and a number of those put forward by the IDS representatives, and agreed that the following were starters for the academic list:

Professor W H Morris-Jones, Director, Institute of

Commonwealth Studies, London

Dr Peter Lyon, Secretary, Institute of Commonwealth

Studies, London

Professor James Read School of Oriental and African

Studies, University of London

Professor Kenneth Robinson, Jesus College, Cambridge

(ex Colonial Office, and a member of the UN Group on Mini States)

Dr Paul Howell, who is Director of a Course in Development

Studies at Cambridge

Professor Yash Ghai (International Law), Warwick University

Professor David Murray, Open University (Adviser to the

Gilbert Islands Government on Constitutional Matters)

Mr George Abbott, Department of International Economic

Studies, University of Glasgow (a native of St Kitts)

Professor Peter Hill, Professor of Economics, University

of East Anglia

Professor Denis Austin, Department of Government,

University of Manchester

Mr A E Thorndike, a graduate research student in the

Department of International Relations and Politics, North Staffordshire Polytechnic

Mr Keith Griffin