ABSTRACT
Ridley’s objective when visiting the Islands was to get an agreement to formal negotiations on the basis of a lease-back. It was known, given everything that the islanders had said in the past, that this was going to be extremely difficult. They were opposed to any change to their status. A supreme act of persuasion was required. Yet Ridley took on this task with a number of handicaps, and these, in the end, defeated his endeavours.
