(61
RaRtome
VERNMENT HOUSE
HỒNG KONG
香港總督府
HKK 430/1
13 DEC 1979
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
WEEK
M
DF Murray Esq CMG
LONDON SW 1
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Arveen Amald
/
The cliff, HKGD
Awi711.
1217.12 Aw
Mr. Quglükell
Any Jurtagh action?
29 November 1979
J12.12.
16/12
B210/12 NWilliamson
Can you submit is to As Clift on file, with a shot
PUBLIC OFFICERS (INDUSTRIAL ACTION) BILL 1979
Thank you for your letter of 21 November 1979.
covery minute explain in the background
[12/12
I am sorry that you were given a few anxious moments. As I mentioned first to Hugh Cortazzi and then to you later on the telephone (on Monday 19 November), the ExCo paper by no means reflected my instructions that a "balanced view" be put to ExCo together with the options:
(a) to continue with the law and regulations as they
are, or
(b) introduce something along the lines which the
Attorney General had proposed.
This matter was raised with me as a matter of some urgency on the previous Friday when a number of senior officers, and in particular the Attorney General and Secretary for the Civil Service, advised strongly that a change in the law was urgently required. The political arguments against such a move were quite clear to me but in view of the obvious concern being expressed I decided to seek the advice of the Executive Council.
In the event and in view of the shortage of time (not helped at all by the fact that I was unable to see the ExCo paper on the Saturday as I was merrily engaged receiving two Golden Monkeys from the People's Republic) the paper was not all it should have been. On the Monday, however, I spoke to three key members of Executive Council explaining my views and obtaining a sensible reaction. My purpose in ringing Hugh was simply to set his mind at ease in case by then he had seen the telegram: in the event he had not but I did explain to him briefly why I thought there was no great cause for concern. Later you telephoned me and I was able to tell you that I expected no problems at Executive Council: in the event this was more than amply proved correct.
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
It was.