§ 9. Mr. Chapmanasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether, since the British proposals for financial settlement with Trinidad have been rejected as offering an unsuitable form of economic aid, he will reopen negotiations on the basis of Trinidad's suggestion of an Exchequer loan of £5 million, as set out in the letter from Dr. Williams on 5th November, 1962.
§ Mr. TilneyNo, Sir. This suggestion was taken fully into consideration before we made our offer to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. I think that the offer was reasonable; it compares favourably with those made to other countries and accepted by them. It did not constitute an "unsuitable form" of economic aid.
§ Mr. ChapmanHas the hon. Member read the letter dated 5th November last year, from the Prime Minister of Trinidad to the British Prime Minister, in which he said that he had asked for this kind of loan as long ago as the previous January, and had never had a formal reply? 1463 Is this really the way to uphold our position as head of the Commonwealth? Secondly, would it not be a good thing, now that the whole thing has broken down on the basis of the British Government's offer, to try to reopen negotiations on the kind of offer Trinidad would prefer, after which it might be possible to settle all the outstanding difficulties?
§ Mr. TilneyI certainly have read the White Paper. The request from the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago was received in March. In April, the British Government proposed a discussion on economic matters which took place in June. This was considered an answer to the request. But I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is very difficult to deal with this matter by Question and Answer. It is very much better to deal with these rather complicated matters through the usual diplomatic channels and if there is a misunderstanding let us clear it up.
§ Mr. HealeyWhile recognising that the offer to Trinidad is broadly in scale with offers made to other countries, may I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he would accept that it is the feeling of many hon. Members on both sides of the House that too often these offers to countries on independence are almost entirely taken up in liquidating the commitments made by previous Colonial Governments before independence, particularly with regard to the compensation of civil servants and such matters? Would not he use his influence with the Treasury to try to ensure in future that more generous treatment is handed out to these new States?
§ Mr. TilneyI only wish that the public purse was fuller. But it must be remembered that the national income of Trinidad and Tobago is many times that of other Commonwealth countries like Tanganyika. I wish that we had more money to give to all our friends in the Commonwealth.