HL Deb 15 March 1962 vol 238 cc319-21

3.44 p.m.

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(The Earl of Perth.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The LORD MERTHYR in the Chair.]

Clause 1 agreed to.

Clause 2 [Power of Her Majesty to provide for performance of functions heretofore performed by Federal authorities for benefit of federated colonies]:

THE EARL OF LUCAN moved, after subsection (1) to insert: (2) An authority set up by virtue of this section shall consist of—

  1. (a) a chairman;
  2. (b) persons representative of each of the territories concerned."
The noble Earl said: This Amendment refers to the authority which the Government are proposing to set up to administer the common services in the West Indies, those services from which all the territories in that area have benefited, and from which they will continue to benefit, I understand, whether or not they remain in the Federation, and whether or not they are in any future federation.

On the Second Reading the noble Earl who introduced the Bill was not specific about the common services. He mentioned meteorological services, advisory services of all kinds, shipping services and others; and the object of Clause 2 is to give permission for the establishment of an interim authority to deal with those services. We think that the House ought to know more about what this authority will be; who will appoint it; on what grounds; what sort of person or persons will be appointed. On all these matters so far there has been complete silence from the Government.

This is, after all, a matter which concerns intimately all these territories in the Caribbean. At first sight it would seem self-evident that in these days an authority of this sort should bear some semblance of democratic control; in other words, the territories concerned should be given a say in the authority which is controlling these services. There is a precedent for that in East Africa. For a long time there was an East African High Commission which performed precisely these services for the territories of East Africa. In East Africa there were, I think, more common services than there are in the West Indies. There were, for instance, currency, railways and harbours, Customs and taxation organisations. But in principle it seems to me that the function to be performed in the West Indies is very much akin to that performed in East Africa.

I should like to remind your Lordships of the organisation which exists in East Africa. For a long time it was known as the East African High Commission, but recently, with the political developments in the East African territories, it has changed its name to the Common Services Organisation. So far as I can see, the composition of this authority has not changed, and it has all the features of a democratic organisation, including a Council and a Legislative Assembly. It is composed of elected representatives from each of the component territories; it includes Ministers and elected members of each of the Territorial Legislatures. There will be twelve Ministers who are members of four functional groups, together with nine members from each territory, elected by the Territorial Legislature. The Assembly of the East African Common Services Organisation will have power to pass measures on subjects such as expenditure, civil aviation, Customs and Excise, income tax, inter-territorial research, university education, communications and the public services commissions. There we have a complete democratic Constitution legislating for the common services of the East African territories. Our Amendment does not contemplate anything as ambitious as that. All we ask is that besides the chairman this authority shall include persons representative of each of the territories concerned.

I hope I have explained what is in our minds, but I should like to say that to my friends on these Benches and me it appears that the proposal as it is set out in the Bill is a complete regression to arbitrary rule from Whitehall and a step back from all these years of political progress in the colonial territories—so much so that we can hardly believe that it is really what is in Her Majesty's Government's mind. We should like an explanation of what the Government proposals mean, and for that purpose I beg to move the Amendment.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 28, at end insert the said subsection.—(The Earl of Lucan.)

VISCOUNT HAILSHAM

My Lords, I hope I shall not be thought to be in any way discourteous to the noble Earl if, for the purpose of making the statement to which my noble friend referred, I beg to move that the House do now resume.

Moved, That the House do now resume.— (Viscount Hailsham.)

On Question, Motion agreed to, and House resumed accordingly.