§ Sir R. Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to what extent consideration was given at any stage in the Southern Rhodesian Constitutional talks to the possibility that Her Majesty's Government should relinquish their reserve powers without insisting on an enlargement of African representation.
§ Mr. SandysAt the very outset of the Southern Rhodesian Constitutional talks I made it clear to Sir Edgar Whitehead that the British Government would not feel able to give up its reserve powers unless there was a significant widening of the franchise and a substantial increase in African representation in the Legislature. In reply to specific inquiries from Sir Edgar Whitehead, I informed him that the British Government would not regard the adoption of a Declaration of Rights and other constitutional safeguards as adequate substitutes by themselves for the British Government's existing reserve powers.