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the letter is sent to the appropriate department of the Hong Kong Government for comments. Only when there is some particular need for urgency do we consult Hong Kong by telegram in order to provode a substantive reply within the 7 day deadline.
27. This does not mean that MPs' letters need not be accorded a certain degree of priority. The aim should be to ensure that an MP receives a substantive reply within a month of sending his original letter. We hope that those responsible for preparing comments to MPs' letters in Hong Kong can therefore provide replies within about a week of receiving an enquiry from us.
28. Replies to MPs's letter should be as full, positive and helpful as possible. Correspondence between Ministers and MPs is not confidential and should not therefore contain classified information (though MPs can be relied on to respect the privacy of any information passed to them for their personal information only). On sensitive topics, a Minister may occasionally decide that rather than giving an unhelpful written reply, he would prefer to give the MP concerned an oral briefing.
29.
BARANGAN
For their part, MPs expect us to respect the privacy of their letters. If asked whether an MP has written to a Minister about a particular subject, we should neither confirm nor deny the fact. Great care should be taken not to disclose to third parties the contents of MPs' letters, or of constituents' letters that may be enclosed with them.
Hong Kong and General Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office
November 1979
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