CONFIDENTIAL
4. Until this issue has been resolved with the Home Office,
we strongly recommend that the Secretary of State should, at
this stage, say no more in Parliament than that the question
is still under examination.
5. The Governor was consulted about Mr Johnson's question
and the draft reply incorporates an amendment by him, designed
to make it clear that the Hong Kong Government could not be open
to the charge that it had been inactive or indifferent in the
matter of the extradition of Godber. The Governor has said that
it would be helpful from his point of view if the Secretary of
State could stress that he is aware of the strong feelings of
the Hong Kong Government that a means should be found to bring
Godber to justice, and of the powerful and sustained pressure
in Hong Kong for the return of Godber. These points have been
incorporated into the Notes for Supplementaries.
Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Department
5 November 1973
CONFIDENTIAL