Mr Murray
PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts
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HONG KONG: LETTER FROM MR STAN NEWENS MP
1. Mr Stan Newens MP (Labour
No
Actio
Co-operative/Harlow) wrote to the
Secretary of State on 9 November to support certain proposals contained in a letter which three Hong Kong Urban Councillors sent to Dr Owen on 16 October. We had not seen the Councillors' letter at the time (the original seems to have got lost in the post). We therefore spoke to Mr Newens, who sent us his copy. 2. The background was explained in my submission of 23 November. Briefly, the Councillors want to extend the franchise of the Urban Council, to give it wider functions, to phase out its appointed members, and to introduce an elected element into the Legislative Council. These proposals were first put forward in a letter to Lord Goronwy-Roberts on 23 June. The Minister of State said in reply that, while HMG would like to see appropriate moves towards more representative government, the problem was to decide what was appropriate and when. He stressed the need for patience and caution, in order to avoid upsetting the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. The three Councillors were evidently not satisfied with this reply, and wrote to the Secretary of State. Dr Owen replied on 7 December in similar terms to those used by Lord Goronwy-Roberts in his earlier reply.
3. We are now in a position to reply to Mr Newens, and I recommend that Lord Goronwy-Roberts should do so on the lines of the
attached draft.
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R JT McLaren
Hong Kong and General Department
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