DATE
COL. 13/3/1315 VOL. 8.8.6.
b
Chiel Cd Sec Kong Kan
Yeah 2/D
Oral Answers
19 FEBRUARY 1975
1313
were issued to dead people, will the De- partment look into this matter to see whether a vetting system can be set up? How can the Department be sure that no passports are being issued to dead people?
Miss Joan Lestor: The hon. Gentle- man has had extensive correspondence with me and with my right hon. Friend on this matter. The production of the death certificate or the birth certificate, be the person dead or alive, is irrelevant. The Passport Office relies for identity verification upon the signature of the professional person who testifies as to his personal knowledge that the details sup- plied are correct. I know that the hon. Gentleman is interested in this matter. One of the difficulties involved in check-
Oral Answers
(611
13N
give evidence in camera if they so
wished.
Mr. Hattersley: No, Sir. The Inde- pendent Commission Against Corruption set up by the governor has been in operation for just over a year, and has already achieved distinct success. It has received a large measure of support from the Hong Kong public and must be given a proper opportunity to fulfil its task.
Mr. Warren: Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that there is wide- spread disquiet about the allegations which are being bandied about regarding the standards of the Hong Kong Police, that the public and the police in Hong Kong need an assurance that those allega- tions will be properly investigated. and that in their opinion that can be done
ing people's deaths in relation to appli-only by an inquiry set up by the right
cations for passports is that there is no central record which includes details of all deaths in the United Kingdom and deaths of United Kingdom citizens which take place overseas.
Deaths in England and Wales are re- corded in one place, deaths in Scotland in another place, and deaths in Northern Ireland in yet another place. It is an administratively impossible task to try to set up such a system, but we are doing our best.
Mr. Edward Lyons: Will my hon. Friend consider making it obligatory for those responsible for the estates of de- ceased persons to return the passports of those deceased persons to the Foreign Office? At present it seems as though there are thousands of passports lying about the country in the hands of people who have inherited them from dead people.
Miss Lestor: I shall consider that sug- gestion and write to my hon. and learned Friend about the possibility of doing this, because, on the face of it, it seems to provide one way, at least, of making some sort of check.
Hong Kong
5. Mr. Warren asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will appoint a commission to investigate the allegations made re- cently c
We H ividuals could
Telic to whie,
12 1 ዓሰ
hon. Gentleman's office?? Is it not also necessary to assure potential recruits from this country to the Hong Kong Police that they are entering a force which is as good as it should be?
Mr. Hattersley: I am aware of the widespread disquiet, which has existed for some time. It was because of that that an independent commission was set up.
Nothing which I say or which anyone else says in this House should undermine the confidence of the people of Hong Kong in that commission, and the commission must be allowe tinue its work.
Mr. James Johnson: Is my right hon. Friend aware of the many charges laid at the door of the Attorney-General's office by a Councillor Mrs. Elsie Eliot,' who is well known to many hon. Members on both sides of the House? right hon. Friend say how many pro- secutions laid before it have been dropped by the Attorney-General's office. on instructions of that office? Would not
Will my
it carry more conviction and give far more confidence to the people of Hong Kong if a Royal Commission were sent out there, based on and advised by officers of Scotland Yard itself?
Mr. Hattersley: On the specific allega- tions by the lady to whom my hon. Friend referred. I am afraid that I can give no information today, but I tal note of what my hon. Friend says, and I shall try to answer his detailed question.
n. Kimins I think de question still to be answered
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