PS/Mr Blaker
CONFIDENTIAL
MP'S LETTER: HONG KONG:
Problem
НКК аты
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 12 FEB 1981
DEAK OFFICER INDEX
PA
REGISTRY
Action Taken
STANDING COMMITTEE ON PRESSU
NOT
M9:21
ESSURE
GROUPS
100
1. Mr Dennis Canavan MP (Stirlingshire W Labour) wrote to Mr Blaker
A on 26 January concerning the supplementary Question he asked in the
B
House of Commons on 21 January.
HICK 300/16
C
WP.
Recommendation
2. I recommend that Mr Blaker reply on the lines of the attached draft
letter.
Background and Argument
3.
Mr Canavan's Question and letter refer to the activities of the
Hong Kong Government's Standing Committee on Pressure Groups (SCOPG).
Interest in SCOPG has been aroused in Hong Kong because a copy of one
of its reports was leaked to the press:- this is attached to Mr Canavan's
letter. An article in the 'New Statesman of 11 December 1980
represented it as part of a Government conspiracy to inhibit free
expression.
4. SCOPG is an interdepartmental Committee set up three years ago to
keep in touch with the views of a wide range of people in the community
and, in particular, groups who have points to make about the Hong Kong
Government's policies. Its job is to ensure that the views of these
people are fully and properly understood.
5. The Committee does not attempt to infiltrate pressure groups as
Mr Canavan suggests. That such a Committee exists is not surprising
in a territory which puts a lot of effort into ascertaining what
public opinion is, positively countering criticism and, where possible,
acting on suggestions from the public. Nonetheless, the Committee's
deliberations are classified.
The Security and Special Branches are
CONFIDENTIAL
/represented