§ LORD SORENSENMy 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 Commonwealth Governments in the West Indies have expressed agreement with Her Majesty's Government's recent action in Anguilla; and whether there have been or will be any consultation with them in respect of British policy affecting those territories.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (LORD SHEPHERD)My Lords, the Governments of Barbados and Guyana have publicly expressed their agreement with our action in Anguilla. We are continuously in consultation with all the Governments of the Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean in respect of our policy in that area.
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, may I ask my noble friend whether any consultation has taken place with the Governments of Trinidad and Jamaica? Also, can he give some idea of the general position at the present time in Anguilla?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, the Governments of Trinidad and Jamaica were informed, as were the Governments of Barbados and Guyana, as to our proposed action in Anguilla. We are, of course, in continual consultation through the High Commissioners in London as to events and development in the Caribbean.
With regard to the situation in Anguilla, I hesitate to answer the noble Lord 940 directly because I should be widening the Question, which I am sure would not be in accordance with the rules of the House. However, I can assure my noble friend that considerable progress has been made towards law and order in that island.
THE EARL OF MANSFIELDMy Lords, are Her Majesty's Government aware that their action in sending in an expeditionary force of purely white troops caused considerable resentment throughout the Caribbean? May I ask, also, whether they made any approach to the Governments of Jamaica and Trinidad to provide a portion of that expeditionary force; and if not, why not?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I would not accept that the action of Her Majesty's Government in sending soldiers to Anguilla caused widespread alarm and criticism in the Caribbean: in fact, to my knowledge and in my experience we had been encouraged for many months to do this very thing. Clearly, the British Army is now predominantly white, and since we had to send soldiers that were part of the stand-by at that time it was a misfortune that that force was white. But I have no reason to believe that this was a cause of difficulty between the British Army and the people of Anguilla.
THE EARL OF MANSFIELDMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that, having just come back from the West Indies, I know quite well that his information is obviously entirely fallacious? And would he please answer the question as to why no attempt was made to associate the Governments of Jamaica and Trinidad in this action by asking them to give at least a token number of troops for the expedition?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I can assure the House that my experience of this problem is infinitely greater than that of the noble Earl, since I have been involved in it since 1967. Our action in Anguilla arose out of the West Indies Act. We informed the Caribbean countries of our intention to carry out this operation, which of course they themselves had asked us to do. I think it would have been quite improper for us to approach the Caribbean countries for them to provide forces to carry out an 941 operation for which this country was directly responsible.
§ LORD CLITHEROEMy Lords, would the noble Lord not agree with me that it might easily have caused more trouble to have had forces from some of the West Indian islands?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, I am not all that sure; but I take the point.