Mr Champion (Gibraltar & General Dept. W 82 MA 68)
PROPOSED SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
1.
At our meeting today we agreed that I should prepare an addendum on Hong Kong to your Note on the constitu- tional position of the Dependent Territories. This was because your note as it stands suggests that the Secretary of State has direct responsibility for the Dependent Territories contrap, but no actual power to intervene. As applied to Hong Kong this could be used as an argument for a Select Committee to bridge the gap between res- ponsibility and power. This needs to be corrected, and we could at the same time take the opportunity to put a further gloss on paragraph 7 b. of the main paper by Mr Scott.
2. I offer the attached passage which could I think, be added to the end of your draft. You would then only need to delete the second half of the first sentence of your paragraph 2 beginning "notably Hong Kong .
•
3 June 1974
cc:
Mr Larmour Mr Male
A C Stuart
Hong Kong and Indian Ocean Department
(17260) Dd.897459 400m 12/72 G.W.B. Ltd. Gp.863
(16940) Dd 897300 400m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
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