I said, 'Are these people ready for self-government?' And he said , 'No, of course not.'

Many officials thought the pace of change was too fast, but acknowledged that they simply had no choice, as Macmillan discovered when he talked to the Governor-General of Nigeria [James Robertson]:

I said, 'Are these people ready for self-government?' And he said , 'No, of course not.'

I said, 'When will they be ready?' He said, 'Twenty years, twenty-five years.'

Then I said, 'What do you recommend me to do?' He said, 'I recommend you give it to them at once.'

D. Sandbrook, Never had it so good (2005), 289

The fuller quote, which is here, is thoughtful on why, though of course is of its time.

By January 1958, the entire government comprised some eight-five ministers, of whom thirty-five were related to Macmillan by marriage

This was largely overshadowed, however, by the fact that the Cabinet itself had a very narrow social base. Of the sixteen members in January 1957, six had been at Eton, only two had not attended a major public school, and, as usual, there were no women at all. Even more remarkably, the government as a whole was crammed to the seams with Macmillan's own relatives. By January 1958, the entire government comprised some eight-five ministers, of whom thirty-five were related to Macmillan by marriage, including seven of the nineteen members of the cabinet.

D. Sandbrook, Never had it so good (2005), 78