Gah! Completely forgot while finishing off that update I must extend thanks to Le Jones for confirming a few ideas about that one. That said any mistakes and glaring errors do of course remain my own. Anyway;
Carlstadt Boy - History is in the details I've always thought, the countless small events that actually shape and divert the flow of history.
DonnieBaseball - The rail network also serves British strategic interests, the Abyssinian War has once again shown the importance (and vulnerability) of the Suez canal. Having an alternate overland route from the Persian Gulf to the Med is therefore considered a 'good thing' by the IGS and armchair generals throughout the Empire.
You've hit the nail on the head over "Partnership", London hopes the black middle class will eventually dominate the electorate and provide black majority rule through the back door (hell the really ambitious hope that non-racial parties will emerge and people might vote on other policies!
).
IF it gets implemented with commitment and
IF there's no backtracking it might keep the colonies just ahead of the game vs black nationalism and could lead to a better transition to independence. That said almost anything has to better than OTL South Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
Greater Rhodesia, hmm none of the locals want it is the problem. The Rhodesia don't want their poorer neighbours and the neighbours themselves have a better deal (in native rights terms at least) as is. Possibly Greater Rhodesia may come about as a punishment not a reward!
Italian East Africa. Tits. Forgot that, so it's possible the Foreign Office did too. Italian Somaliland gets lumped in with British Somaliland probably. Eritrea is a bit more tricky, OTL the UN spent years thinking about it post war so it's not easy. As such, and with the limited number of actual Britons involved, I'd imagine the government would launch a Royal Commission and hope it goes away.
caffran - It's always very reassuring to get such appreciative posts, so please keep it up. Well as long as you actually are appreciative at least.
Karelian - That's the problem in the nutshell, so many possibilities if only the 'right' decision is made earlier. Or for more interesting outcomes one can also consider the 'wrong' decision being made as well. The trick is of course to determine which is which.