MSS 271/548/1
Registry No.
SECURITY CIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
DRAFT SUBMISSION
To:-
Mr Burrows
PS/Mr Judd
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
...........In Confidence
A
KONAN A
Type 1 +
From
A PJ Lovelock
Ms Hanmay
Telephone No. Exte
Department
FCO MEETING WITH THE ROYAL SOCIETY
PROBLEM
1. The Royal Society attach much importance to discussions with FCO Ministers. Something of a tradition of meetings has been established and recent contacts with the Royal Society at official level ha indicated that another meeting at Ministerial level would be welcome soon. How should this be handled?
BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT
The
2. For some time meetings have been held on roughly an annual basis between FCO Ministers and the Royal Society, the most recent being with Dr Owen on 21 October 1976. record of that meeting is attached. The meetings have provided an opportunity for the Royal Society to discuss subjects which are causing them difficulties in their own international scientific relations and for FCO Ministers - to sound out Royal Society views and, we hope, to guide their thoughts on some of the matters of interest to the FCO.
3. The Royal Society have expressed a strong wish to keep this series of meetings going and would greatly value another meeting. Preliminary contacts at official level suggest that such a discussion should take a different form from those in the past, which were based on an agenda of specific issues. It has been suggested that it would be better to have a more general exchange of views on policy. matters related to particular themes.
4.
Three themes have been suggested:
€
(a)
Theme I might relate to the political issues which the Royal Society faces in its dealings with sensitive subjects such as membership of international fora by 'countries like Taiwan, İsrael and South Africa.
The
/Royalsociety.
08087 400M SEK 17