97499 St.S.
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
DRAFT
s/o letter
Type 1 +
From
Sofs,
Telephone No. & Ext.
Top Secret. Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
To:-
Ernest Thornton, Esq.
M.P.
House of Commons,
London, S.W.1.
FOR SIGNATURE BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
Department
Thank you for your letter of the 18th May
I believe youare
about Hong Kong's labour conditions.
aware that both Mrs. Hart and I feel very strongly on
the subject of the reduction of the hours of work for
women and young persons in Hong Kong, and are doing,
and will continue to do, everything we can to achieve
that objective. However, it would be a great over-
simplification to say that labour conditions in Hong Kong
were an important cause of the present disturbances in
Hong Kong and I hope that you would agree they cannot
in any sense be regarded as a justification for the se
disturbances.