§ 9. Mr. Ralph Morleyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken to give effect to the proposals of the Closer Association Committee, promulgated in 1948, for the formation of a Federation of the British West Indies.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Minister of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Accrington (Mr. H. Hynd) on this subject on 14th March. The position is unchanged.
§ Mr. MorleyIs my right hon. Friend aware that there is a great deal of disappointment in the West Indies over the delay in forming this federation and could he give some assurance that it is the definite intention of the Government to support the proposal for a federation and to hasten its formation?
§ Mr. GriffithsWe have commended the report to the consideration of all the Governments and peoples in the West Indies, and we have been waiting until they have had time to debate it. I am sorry to say that it has not yet been debated in British Guiana, Barbados, British Honduras or Jamaica, but we hope that they will take an early opportunity of discussing it.
§ Mr. Geoffrey CooperIs it not a fact that the rate and type of development in the various West Indian Colonies is so varied that it is thought in some quarters that federation is not going to help as much as some people imagine?
§ Mr. GriffithsThere are, I know, varying views about the proposals in the West Indies.