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that the Administration had exercised patience in its dealing with them. The

ultimate aim was to allow the Party to contribute in the development of

constitutional government. But the Foreign Secretary believed that the NUC had

refused to cooperate and had ‘turned to more extreme courses’. As a result of the

violence that ensued during the November riots the Government of Bahrain had

detained five of the Party’s frontline members, Lloyd explained. The Foreign

Secretary concealed that the order to arrest the NUC’s members actually came from

the Residency and not the Administration. 862 An interesting feature of this period in

Bahrain was that Smith did not play any role following his return from leave.

Power remained firmly in the hands of Belgrave, the Adviser.

The idea of exiling some of the members of the NUC was first entertained in

late November. In a meeting between the Ruler, Belgrave, and Gault, it was felt by

Gault that the Administration wanted to have two or three members of the Party

exiled to a secure British possession. The Adviser suggested that the soon-to-be

exiled prisoners be sent with a single journey travel passport to the Seychelles.

There they would receive during their exile allowances from the Bahraini

Government. The idea was for the prisoners to live a normal life and be granted

mobility throughout the islands but without being able to leave the country. 863 The

choice to have the prisoners sent to the Seychelles was chosen because Archbishop

Makarios of Cyprus was already serving his banishment on the islands. 864

862 House of Lords (HL) Deb 20 November 1956, vol 200 cols 369-70.
863 TNA, FO 1016/470, Burrows to FO, 24 November 1956.
864 TNA, FO 1016/550, Gault to Burrows, 17 January 1957.

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