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Mr Croon (HKIOD)
Reference.......
CONFIDENTIAL
MR ALAN ELLIS FORMER PROBATIONARY INSPECTOR OF POLICE, HONG KONG
1.
2.
Mr Rushford is away.
I have made some amendments to your draft and for clarity I attach the redraft hereto. I hesitate to trespass on grounds which are obviously those of policy but I feel that if Mr Ellis is given the opportunity of seeing Mr Macoun not only will he feel that Mr Macoun is not absolutely sure of his decision, as conveyed in the draft letter, but that there may be an opening to pester Mr Macoun. Moreover, Mr Ellis might not hesitate to inform his contacts in Hong Kong that the enquiries conducted there are being reviewed by the Inspector-General of Police in the United Kingdom. In effect this might be the tip of the wedge that he seeks to assist him in his drive for a UK investigation of allegations of corruption of the Police in Hong Kong. I have therefore redrafted the letter to convey to Mr Ellis finality and to leave as little as possible for him to be able to use for a reply. One point which I have tried to cover is his offer of assistance in paragraph 4 of his letter of 6 April. I think we should try to convey that Mr Macoun had all the papers at his disposal so as to avoid the obvious charge by Mr Ellis that he did not even bother to take advantage of his (Mr Ellis') offer.
3.
I have slightly amended words which Mr Macoun has used in his minute, particularly when we say that "It cannot be denied that corruption of Police Officers has been a serious problem". I think this might be a dangerous thing to write to Mr Ellis and I cannot see that we have gone further than saying we are aware of the problem (see Mr Royle's Parliamentary reply of 28 March 1973). If you accept my amendments I would be grateful if they could be shown to Mr Macoun to see whether or not he agrees.
18 April 1973
JD P Bickford Legal Adviser
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