55
HWB 18/69
letter
Sir George Sinclair, C.M.G.,
O.B.E., M.P.,
10/2/1
You spoke to me about a letter sent by
Mr. M.H. Jackson-Lipkin on 19th September to the Home Office,
and later sent me the enclosed letter from him dated 13th
November.
&
I think my best course will be to deal with the
points raised in Mr. Jackson-Lipkin's two letters and to
ask you to pass on what I say to him, and for this purpose
I am enclosing a copy of this letter. I agree, incidentally,
that it would have been better to have replied to Mr. Jackson-
Lipkin more fully than was done in the Home Office letter of
9th October and I am sorry about this.
As regards the attitude of the Immigration
Department in Hong Kong, it is of course a department of the
Hong Kong Government to which we have delegated authority
to issue entry certificates to those persons desiring to
come to Britain and who clearly meet the requirements for
by
admission laid down for our immigration controls. It has
no responsibility whatsoever for our policies in this matter
(although when those policies are unpopular, it is, I suppose,
inevitable that some of the resentment which they generate
should brush off on to the Hong Kong Department and when,
on occasion, a doubtful case arises it may be necessary for
the department to refer an individual application to the
Home Office in London for a ruling. I can assure you that
/the