HKG 380/1
G P Lloyd Esq CMG Acting Governor HAMILTON
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
CONFIDENTIAL
20 July 1977
38
1. Very many thanks for your letter DGO 1/1 of 14 July. I now understand that the petition to the Privy Council on behalf of Tacklyn for leave to appeal was lodged just before the latest deadline. The latest information we have is that the Privy Council will certainly not now hear this before October.
2. For your own information the Secretary of State has accepted my recommendation that the Creech Jones doctrine be abrogated and he is now clearing this with his Cabinet colleagues. If they agree, as they are pretty certain to do, we shall be informing you officially before a statement is made in the House. Because Parliament rises on the 27th of this month, a statement in the House itself will probably be delayed until October.
3.
I am very glad to hear that the idea of a referendum has been dropped.
CONFIDENTIAL
JA B Stewart
66