§ LORD ORR-EWINGMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government to list the amount of Government aid and defence aid granted to Commonwealth countries in terms of its value per head of population of those countries.]
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I will, with the leave of the House, circulate the full details in the OFFICIAL REPORT. With 618 regard to economic aid for the calendar year 1970, the five countries which received the most aid per head of population, excluding those countries with populations under 15,000 are: Gibraltar, £45; Seychelles, £32; Malta, £23; Solomon Islands, £20; St. Lucia, £20. In these countries there was no defence aid.
§ Following are the details referred to:
§ The following are the figures requested, which for military aid are for the financial year 1970–71 and for economic aid the calendar year 1970. The calculations are based on estimates of population in mid-1970.
| Country | Bilateral Aid Programme Per Capita 1970 | Military Assistance Per Capita 1970–71 |
| £ | £ | |
| Cyprus | 0.31 | — |
| Gibraltar | 45.18 | — |
| Malta | 22.51 | — |
| Gambia | 1.10 | — |
| Ghana | 0.62 | — |
| Nigeria | 0.17 | — |
| Sierra Leone | 0.37 | — |
| Kenya | 1.03 | — |
| Tanzania | 0.15 | — |
| Uganda | 0.45 | — |
| Botswana | 4.31 | — |
| Lesotho | 0.68 | — |
| Malawi | 1.70 | — |
| Rhodesia | 0.30 | — |
| Swaziland | 7.67 | — |
| Zambia | 0.59 | 0.01 |
| Mauritius | 2.09 | — |
| St. Helena (including dependencies) | 67.03 | — |
| Seychelles | 32.29 | — |
| Bahamas | 0.05 | — |
| Barbados | 2.33 | — |
| Cayman Island | 22.80 | — |
| Honduras (British) | 19.28 | — |
| Jamaica | 0.90 | — |
| Montserrat | 50.00 | — |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 0.56 | — |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 101.30 | — |
| Virgin Islands (British) | 60.6 | — |
| Associated States | ||
| Antigua | 6.75 | — |
| Dominica | 18.70 | — |
| Grenada | 3.80 | — |
| St. Kitts | 13.79 | — |
| St. Lucia | 20.31 | — |
| St. Vincent | 12.86 | — |
| Guyana | 4.67 | 0.04 |
| Bermuda | 0.06 | — |
| Falkland Islands | 21.90 | — |
| Ceylon | 0.36 | — |
| Hong Kong | 0.05 | — |
| India | 0.08 | * |
| Malaysia | 0.60 | 0.14 |
| Pakistan | 0.09 | — |
| Singapore | 3.84 | 2.44 |
| Fiji | 4.50 | — |
| Gilbert and Ellice Islands | 15.00 | — |
| New Hebrides | 14.27 | — |
| Papua | * | — |
| Country | Bilateral Aid Programme Per Capita 1970 | Military Assistance Per Capita 1970–71 |
| £ | £ | |
| Solomon Islands | 20.36 | — |
| Tonga | 5.70 | — |
| Western Samoa | 0.06 | — |
§ Notes:
§ (1) Excludes (a) general unallocated economic aid amounting to £10,862,000 in 1970, and (b) general unallocated military assistance of £2,222,000 in 1970–71.
§ (2) * means less than ½p.
§ LORD ORR-EWINGMy Lords, does this not mean that, if Mr. Mintoff's demand that we henceforth pay four times the price is granted, Malta will be receiving more than twice any other Commonwealth country in any part of the world? Can my noble friend tell the House approximately how much of Malta's gross national product is dependent on British expenditure?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I am not sure whether it is fair to join the two figures together as my noble friend did. The figures which I gave him are the result of an undertaking to provide aid under conditions which obtained in 1964, and we are carrying out this obligation. With regard to his second question, about £8 million a year comes from tourists to Malta, about £10 million from British settlers, and, in all, about half the gross national product comes from British sources.
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, would not the noble Earl agree that Malta was once part of our Empire, and that Malta is to-day what we made it? Would he not also agree that many of Malta's difficulties arise from the closure of the Suez Canal, which has meant that the port and docks find it hard to operate? Would not the noble Lord also agree that, while it is fair and right that we should make a contribution, although it should not be an unfair contribution, in the present circumstances we hope for a degree of generosity from Her Majesty's Government?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I think that that is a slightly wider question than the original one, but we are carrying out the obligation we entered into in 1964.
§ LORD ORR-EWINGMy Lords, I think my noble friend misunderstood my first supplementary. I was not seeking to add the two sums, although they are both 620 helpful to the people of Malta. What I was seeking to say was that at present we are granting £5 million aid and Mr. Mintoff is asking that that sum be increased to £20 million. In that event the aid would rise from £23 to £92 per head, which is the figure that would mean treating them twice as favourably as any other Commonwealth country.