Fretted by Congressional demands for permanent American control over naval, troop and air bases already under leases to the U.S., House of Commons members asked Winston Churchill for assurances that Britain will keep her own.* Said he, with sharp finality: "There is not the slightest question of any cession of British territories not the slightest."
* Bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, Trinidad, British Guiana, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Antigua were released to the U.S. in 1940, technically in return for 50 overage destroyers. Interpreted literally, the leases give the U.S. possession but not sovereignty for 99 years....
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