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19
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Wilford
Hora
Watson
Secretung +
very clearly. Shave
an amendement in para 5.
Sir D
This draft sets out the
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suggested
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few - 19/6
suggested in from a content;
I Rerefore
drags of the DOP Paper.
THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
State.
131
Mky Comert
1. I submit herewith a draft paper for the DOP'. This is
necessarily extremely compressed because of the length
limitations of such papers. The paper could be taken in
committee at a meeting expected in the week beginning 25 June.
2. The paper is drafted to propose no change in the law in
the dependent territories other than Hong Kong and to put
choices
21/6.
flatly the 3 alternatives for Hong Kong which we have discussed.
I do not think that discussion in the FCO has progressed to a
point where we can put more weight on one of these 3 propositions
than on the others. I have alluded to Mr Grattan's suggestion
of consulting Parliament. This presupposes that we want to
persuade Parliament to leave the law in Hong Kong as it is.
I think the idea could be a good one if the Whips believe that
Parliament will agree. If, however, the vote is in favour of
abolition, despite the Secretary of State's arguments, I think
the effect in Hong Kong would be bad. Their suspicion would be
confirmed that they are subject to the whim of Parliament,
rather than to their own political needs or even the considered
opinion of HMG. The idea of consulting Parliament could also
be made to run without a choice by us of the desired solution.
But, again, I think the sight of the Secretary of State
/consulting
CONFIDENTIAL