§ 2.46 p.m.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount of aid from United Kingdom funds has been given to Bermuda and the Bahamas in the last two years; and what direct taxation in the form of income tax, surtax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, death duties or otherwise has been levied in these two colonies during this period.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (LORD WALSTON)My Lords, in 1964 and 1965 the total United Kingdom aid to Bermuda 896 amounted to £21,000, and to the Bahamas £36,000. Of this aid, the only direct grant was a contribution of £10,000 to the Bahamas Hurricane Relief Fund; the balance took the form of technical assistance. Apart from a real property tax in the Bahamas, which yielded £75,000 in 1964 and £95,000 in 1965, there is no direct taxation in these territories.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, will the Government bear in mind the fact that there is no direct taxation, if there are applications for further aid from these two territories?
§ LORD WALSTONMy Lords, this fact is continually borne in mind in all questions of aid to all dependent territories.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, have Her Majesty's Government any responsibility for direct taxation in Bermuda and the Bahamas, and did not this desire to recover in taxation what we have given in aid lose us the American Colonies in 1776?
§ LORD WALSTONMy Lords, as regards the first part of the noble Earl's question, I would say that the form of taxation they should have is primarily the responsibility of the territories themselves. As regards the second part, I would rather leave it to those more historically qualified than I to pass judgment.