§ Mr. Bishopasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list in the Official Report the names and number of Commonwealth territories which have not yet attained self-rule, giving the respective populations; and what initiatives Her Majesty's Government has taken towards the granting of independence to these territories.
§ Mr. KershawThe following table gives the names and populations of the overseas Dependent Territories for which Britain is responsible and which have not yet attained independence.
Territory Population as at December, 1971 Bahamas 168,000 Bermuda 51,000 British Honduras 120,000 British Indian Ocean Territory No permanent population British Solomon Islands Protectorate 161,000 British Virgin Islands 10,500 Cayman Islands 10,650 Falkland Islands and Dependencies 2,098 Gibraltar 28,965 Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony 55,000 Hong Kong 4,045,300 Montserrat 12,302 New Hebrides* 78,000 Pitcairn Islands Group 85 St. Helena and Dependencies (i.e. Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha) 4,700 Seychelles 50,000 Turks and Caicos Islands 5,700 * The New Hebrides is a Condominium jointly administered with the French Government. The six Associated States listed below exercise full responsibility for all aspects of their internal affairs while Her Majesty's Government retain responsibility for their external affairs and defence. Under their respective constitutions each Associated State has the right to proceed to full independence unilaterally subject only to the observance of certain procedures.
Antigua 74,000 Provisional estimates for 1970 Dominica 70,000 Grenada 95,000 St. Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla 51,000 St. Lucia 101,000 St. Vincent 90,000 The policy of Her Majesty's Government towards the future of the remaining Dependent Territories has been stated 195W on a number of occasions. Our guiding principle is to respond to the wishes of the peoples concerned. It is not our intention to delay independence for those territories which want it, nor is it our intention to impose it on those which do not.