#
PS/Lord Belstead
Mick 028/2
Issue
INDUSTRY AND TRADE SELECT COMMITTEE
кум
R
3/12
(155)
(154
14x
PROBLEM
1.
The Chairman of the Select Committee on Industry and
Trade, which visited Hong Kong recently, has written to complain
that a record of Lord Belstead's briefing of the SCIT on 10 November
was disclosed to a third party, the Hong Kong Government. How
should we respond?
RECOMMENDATION
Q
147
2.
I recommend that Lord Belstead should reply defending
our right to brief posts in this way while accepting that Hong Kong
might have been handled differently.
concur.
BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT
3.
I submit a draft. PCCU
Hong Kong warned us of this incident.
The Committee is
pitching it too high. They agreed this was an informal briefing,
not a regular Commons Select Committee hearing, to which different
rules apply. Even if it had been, we have the right to warn our
own posts and the Governor of the Committee's preoccupations.
4.
Had one of our own diplomatic posts revealed the
existence of our report, or had even Mr Dorward argued his own
corner without referring to it, no offence would have been taken
by the Committee. I think that Mr Dorward was pretty tactless
in the way he spoke although our telegram to Hong Kong contained
no specific caveat. Since the Committee have raised the matter,
I think we ought to ask the Governor for his view. If the
Minister agrees I will do this; but this need not hold up a reply.
/5.