TOP SECRET & PERSONAL
Ministry of Transport (also referred to in the Order)
have now been taken over by the Board of Trade. These
developments have meant that the Order is once again out
of date. You may recall that at our discussion we came
to the conclusion that on balance, despite the decision
to abandon plan "Digit" for the evacuation of Hong Kong,
it Would nevertheless be advisable to keep the Order in
being and that it should accordingly be replaced by a
new and up to date version.
This brings me to the purpose of this letter which
is to enquire whether it would be possible for a first
draft of the new Order to be prepared in your Attorney-
General's Chambers and if so whether you would see any
objection to such a course? The request is, I know, an
unusual one, but the truth is that our own Legal
Advisers have so much on their plates at the moment that
they can give no indication of how soon they would be
able to undertake the necessary drafting. Although
there is (we hope) no urgent need for the new Order we
should nevertheless like to see it made without undue
delay; hence this approach to you.
What we have in mind is that the existing Order
should be cancelled and replaced by a new Order which
would follow the pattern of the existing one and would
mentioned
bring it up to date by providing for the developments) in
paragraph 3 above. In this connection your legal
draftsman may find helpful the enclosed list of countries
which are at present independent members of the Common-
wealth. Because nearly twelve years have elapsed since
the 1958 amending Order was made and because there is,
at present, no urgency about the matter, there is always
stet
-
2
TOP SECRET & PERSONAL
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN