§ Considered in Committee, and reported, without Amendment.
§ 10.3 p.m.
§ The Minister of State for Colonial Affairs (Mr. John Hare)I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
I shall not detain the House for very long, because the very warm welcome which the Bill had during the Second Reading debate, and the rapid way in which the remaining stages have just been dealt with, show how unanimous hon. Members on both sides of the House are in this matter.
I shall make no formal speech of commendation, but it should be made clear to the people of the West Indies that we in the United Kingdom wish Godspeed and a fair passage to the new British Caribbean Federation when it comes into being. I hope that in view of the Bill's warm and friendly reception the leaders and the peoples of the new Federation will feel assured that they will always have the continued friendship and help of hon. Members on both sides of the House.
§ 10.4 p.m.
§ Mr. Arthur Creech Jones (Wakefield)In view of the importance of the Bill and the fact that it looks with great hope to the future I feel that we should wish the people of the Caribbean all good luck and success in the work of the new Federation before the Bill leaves the House. We realise that many problems remain to be solved, and that a great deal of work must be done before the Federation can come into operation. The considerable difficulties which will have to be faced were expressed during the Second Reading debate. A great deal of patience will be necessary in order to build up that corporate spirit upon which the success of the Federation depends, and to overcome the phyical difficulties of communication between respective territories.
None the less, the Federation coming into being will, we hope, assume the status of a new Dominion inside the Commonwealth. We know that, with its financial limitations, it is not an easy thing to build up a new State inside the Commonwealth, but we hope that this nation will continue to show the utmost generosity in regard to the problems which have to be solved by this new Federation. Therefore, we hope that all will go well in the days immediately ahead, and, speaking for the Opposition and, I think, for all Members on both sides of the House, we wish the people of the Caribbean well in this great adventure on which they are about to start.
§ Mr. R. W. Sorensen (Leyton)As a back bencher, may I add my word, as I am sure other back benchers wish to do, to the good wishes extended to the emergence of this new Federation. In a sense, what we are doing today is only poetic justice and some kind of compensation for what we have done in the past. We must not forget the past; and that many of the people of these islands are the descendants of those who were taken away from their homeland years ago and dumped overseas as human merchandise. If we can do something to bring the people of those areas together for their social, economic and ethical good, that will, in some measure, counterbalance the evils of the past.
It is true, as has been mentioned in another connection, that there are very great difficulties in the development of 534 this Federation, but nowadays these difficulties can be overcome through our knowledge of science. Nature has scattered and fragmented a number of these islands, and in former days it would have been most difficult to bring about any kind of homogeneity. Fortunately, by science, we can now leap over the waters and so help to bring together people who otherwise might have spent an indefinite time in segregation and isolation. Therefore, I hope that the bridge which modern science can offer will be helpful in the development of one more pattern within our amazing and inspiring Commonwealth of Nations.
For this reason, I trust that these humble words will carry some little weight from those of us on the back benches, and will add to the more weighty utterances which have come from right hon. Members on the Front Benches in wishing Godspeed to the Bill. We hope that while these people will keep their identity in the several islands they will nevertheless develop into a nation which will comprehend and preserve those individual identities.
That, I am sure, will add very materially to the well-being of the people of these islands. It will add to the possibility of their economic development, but, above all, I think that it is necessary that those who live in these islands should increasingly have a sense of belonging to the same community, with variety in it, but a community which can be proud of itself and proud of membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.
§ Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.