§ 18. Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what joint services he proposes shall be carried on in the West Indies now that the Federation is to be dissolved; what they will cost; and who will pay for them.
§ Mr. MaudlingUntil the questions have been discussed with the West Indian Governments, I cannot make any detailed proposals. Preliminary talks between officials will start very shortly.
§ Sir C. OsborneHas my right hon. Friend no idea what it will cost? If we are to provide facilities of this kind for the West Indies, with 3¼ million people, ought we not to accept the same obligation to provide similar facilities for the great number of people in the sub-Continent of India, 540 million of them? Can we afford to do it?
§ Mr. MaudlingThe question, which is an important one, is what is to happen 1504 to the common services, the meteorological service, the shipping services, the agricultural advisory service, and so on. The whole question of what services are to be retained and who is to pay for them is a matter we shall start discussing in the near future. I entirely agree that it is very important to consider who is to pay for them, but I ask my hon. Friend to be kind enough to wait a little while until we have had an opportunity to look at the matter with the other Governments concerned.
§ Mr. HealeyIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that many of us on both sides of the House regard this country as having a special obligation to the people of the West Indies, the ancestors of the vast majority of whom were taken there as slaves in the past, and will he assure us that he will not be deflected from doing what I know he believes to be the duty of the British people and Government by unworthy remarks such as those made by the hon. Member for Louth (Sir C. Osborne)?
§ Mr. MaudlingClearly, we have an obligation towards the people of these countries, and I believe that we are carrying it out. I do not think that my hon. Friend is asking us to depart in any way from that obligation.