CONFIDENTIAL
18. By the next day, Monday, the support of the press for no concession was apparent and had an immediate effect on the men, and isolated the hard core. The expression of loyalty to the Commissioner and commitment to Constitutional action then followed as reported in my tel No 1105.
19. That morning, still in ignorance of the change of heart by the police, I called a meeting of the Executive Council to which all unofficial members of the Legislative Council were also invited. I started with an apology for not having consulted the Executive Council on the Saturday night and an explanation of the reasons why I had not been able to do so and of the reasons for the amnesty. Sir Y K Kan intervened to say that he had been consulted and concurred in the decision, and had advised me that there was no time to convene a meeting and that he was convinced his colleagues would have agreed with the decision taken. I then explained that while the army could in the last resort be used if and when a substantial body of police were prepared to obey orders to act against dissidents, it could not be used in present circumstances. Never the less to give in would be to hand over Hong Kong to a police mafia, totally to discredit it as a place of business, and to invite widespread disorder. In the circumstances I recommended the best course was to rally total public support for the Government and rely on the impact of public opinion to isolate the hard core dissidents from the rest of the Force. They eventually agreed to this line, and the Executive Council also agreed to the introduction of an amendment to the Police Ordinance to permit summary dismissal. This was pushed through an emergency session of the Legislative Council the same afternoon, which I addressed as in my tel No 1100.
20.
By that night, and particularly by the following morning, the response of the press and public and of the principal organisations was overwhelming and to my surprise included the Law Society, the Bar Association and various organisations which normally object to everything. It was clear that the public immediately accepted the gravity of the crisis and completely supported the Government. The impact on the Police was immediate and conclusive. Since November 8 the force has proceeded about its duty in a normal way and the only extraordinary activity has been discussion with the rank and file representatives about the formation of a Police Association. Even on this it has now been accepted that men under interdiction may not hold office
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CONFIDENTIAL