Who is Mr. George Padmore ? I am told he
is occasionally to
rtencountered in the columns of the Daily Worker. He is also, appears, London Correspondent of the West African Pilot, an prgan of the well-known Zik faction in Nigeria. Last month Mr. 'admore sent his paper great news. The British colonies in East rnd West Africa are to be exploited by American big business, by pgreement between " Wall Street representatives and the British ..abour Government." The Colonial Office, " realising that the assistance granted Britain under the Marshall Plan will not be enough to enable the British people to regain their pre-war standard pf life and at the same time permit the Labour Government carrying ,through a programme of rearmament," started this development project, "inviting the Americans to come in and share in the proceeds." That seems a nice good-neighbourly act on the part of the Colonial Office. But how much truth is there in the story ? According to the Colonial Office, which ought to know something about it, not one word. To tell the Nigerian readers of such sheets as the West African Pilot that the British Government is arranging for the Americans to exploit their territory hardly makes colonial administration easy. But no doubt it is good copy. Freedom of the Press sometimes presents problems.
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