CARE 1A-TY
Mr McLaren
RITA NIGHTINGALE
Reference
(64
(66)
1. Thank you for your minute of 31 October. The memorandum of 11 September, which it is proposed the Secretary of State should give to Mrs Castle on Privy Councillor terms, incorpor- ates Hong Kong's reply to my letter of 4 August. I am sorry I did not explain this when I circulated the draft submission. The memorandum in fact deals with (I won't say "answers") about 8 of the questions in the latest questionnaire. Four more of the questions are answered in the material already seen by Mr Hallmark.
2. I have now received Hong Kong's reply (copy attached) to my request to discuss with the defence lawyers the non- confidential material they have supplied to see what can be usefully employed in support of Miss Nightingale's plea for a Royal Pardon.
3. In the light of that reply I think we will have to put together our own document without the help of the defence lawyers and then seek clearance from Hong Kong. I do not anticipate any great difficulty over this. As already recorded. there are, in my view, only a few items of information which would appear to corroborate Miss Nightingale's story (see para 5 of the draft submission). Chan's conviction is public know- ledge and Hong Kong have already agreed that we can use the information about Lewis's movements. In the circumstances therefore (and if you agree) I am inclined to proceed in the way I have suggested and not to go back to Hong Kong to demand greater discretion. I am amending the draft submission to take account of this latest development.
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༨༩ཟང་བ་༧ ༤
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2 November 1978
Cc:
Mr Figg
Mr Simons, SEAD
Mr Whomersley (Legal Advisers)
Mr Duncan
SF St Duncan
HKK 385/2
RECEIVED IN REGGERY NO. 51
3 NOV 1978
DESK O INDER
,RY
•ction Then
1. I agree that it would probably be best to proceed in the way suggested in the first sentence of your paragraph 3. But if this leads to difficulties I see no objection to going back to Hong Kong with a bit more firepower. If it comes to that, I should be happy to advise on who best to approach and how.
3 November 1978
R J T McLaren
Hong Kong and General Department