Smaller Colonial Territories (Future Status)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 17 April 1959.

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Photo of Mr Julian Amery Mr Julian Amery , Preston North 12:00, 17 April 1959

The Government welcome the Motion brought forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Kirkdale (Mr. N. Pannell) and accept its terms in principle. This has been an extremely interesting debate, partly because it has touched upon the affairs of colonies which are too seldom discussed in this House, and partly because it has shown a great unity in our approach to the problem, both in a consciousness of our continuing responsibilities for the colonies concerned and in an understanding of the mood which is increasingly spreading among them with the growth of education and economic development. But the problems are extremely difficult and intractable, and the task of answering the comments made in our debate, as the right hon. Member for Middlesbrough (Mr. Marquand) commented, is not an easy one to fulfil.

The high road to sovereignty in the Commonwealth has been traced and followed by a number of what were known in the past as the larger Colonies. We have seen that development take place in all the continents of the world. So far, it has been conditioned by certain things, such as the attainment of economic and financial independence —not merely independence in the theoretical sense, but at a certain standard which allowed internal political stability—and an ability to ensure their making a considerable contribution towards the maintenance of national defence.

Today, we are considering the reverse side of the medal. We are considering the problems of those countries which are still faced with great obstacles standing in the way of their achieving sovereignty. Some of them are too poor— there can be no economic viability or independence simply at subsistence level — some are still backward, in the sense of not having a sufficient number of educated personnel to administer their Government, or man their law courts; some, again, have not developed constitutions, and independence without constitutional Government, honest administration and a sound judiciary would be a mockery. All these problems interlink. Without financial resources we cannot have stable political Government, at any rate in some places.

Furthermore, some of these territories have special problems. There may be a lack of racial homogeneity, as in Fiji or Mauritius, where there is more than one community, and certain divisions between the races still exist. Until a greater homogeneity has been created and a national consciousness arrived at it would be difficult for them to embark upon sovereignty in the full sense of the word. Some, too, have important strategic bases, which are of interest to the Commonwealth and the free world as a whole. Yet others are small and isolated territories which, though not in themselves particularly backward, have traditionally looked to us for help and protection, and continue to do so, and upon whom we could not possibly turn our backs.

At any given moment today when we are discussing these matters these different obstacles, whether wealth, cultural standards or lack of political institutions, constitute an obstacle to the achievement of full sovereignty. These obstacles are not necessarily permanent. Circumstances change. New resources can be discovered in a small territory. We had an instance with the discovery of oil in Brunei, which has made possible a new advance of constitutional life in Brunei which my right hon. Friend and the Sultan arrived at in negotiations recently. The whole order of the world may well change over the next few generations so as to make it safer for small communities to be on their own than it is today.

I repeat that the obstacles to sovereignty are not necessarily permanent. They can be overcome in the fullness of time with the change of circumstances, or on some occasions by a union between the territory concerned and neighbouring countries. Some of the obstacles can be removed by the efforts of the Colony concerned and Her Majesty's Government, but I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, South-Fast (Mr. Peel) that in many cases it is not yet possible to set out a timetable or a plan. One has to wait for the circumstances to change. A flood of changing constitutions does not always solve the problem. It was reported the other day at the Colonial Office that a telegram arrived beginning, "My immediately preceding constitution". I think that it was a misprint. Constitutions have to be devised to take the fullest advantage of what existing circumstances make possible and of what future development may make possible, but they have also to take account of the peculiar characteristics and traditions of each Colony. One cannot produce a kind of blueprint to be applied to all of them. The right hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones) knows that better than anyone.

Therefore, in considering what is a desirable status which still involves a certain measure of continued dependence, we have to be careful that that status does not thwart the characteristics and aspirations of the territory concerned.

Before I sit down I will try to draw one or two general conclusions, but meanwhile it may help if I try to illustrate what I have just been saying by taking some of the detailed points that have been made on particular territories in the course of the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Kirkdale began his speech by drawing attention to the problems of Sierra Leone. I was very interested in what he said, more especially as he speaks from personal experience. Sierra Leone is now at the constitutional stage that Ghana was in 1954, but it faces a number of difficulties such as those created by the so-called diamond rush, the lack of Sierra Leone civil servants for running the Administration and the great need for development. I cannot say at this stage when the next step in constitutional advance will come, but I can say that we in the Colonial Office have a great admiration for the way Sir Milton Margai and his colleagues have faced up to their task, and they can be assured that they will have very sympathetic understanding when the time comes to discuss the next step.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wavertree (Mr. Tilney) spoke of the problem of the West African pensioners and suggested that my right hon. Friend the Colonial Secretary might receive representations from them. I am sure that my right hon. Friend will be very glad to do that, and I hope that my hon. Friend will personally accompany any representatives that may come.