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discuss the specific questions that Mr Parry had raised. The Lord Privy Seal then asked Mr Parry to make it clear to Ms Vertucci that she could still petition Her Majesty The Queen or the Secretary of State. If she wished to do so then the petition should be transmitted through the Governor. If she did petition, the decision would then become one taken directly by Ministers in the UK, on which Mr Parry and any other MP could question either the Secretary of State or the Lord Privy Seal.
5. Mr Parry thanked the Lord Privy Seal for this advice. He said he had been interested in Hong Kong for many years and had been there several times. There was much to be admired there particularly in the field of housing, but there were also some deplorable things. He had, for instance, seen tear gas being used to evict people from their homes. There was a feeling in the House of Commons that Hong Kong remained the bastion of colonial rule with few civil rights and liberties.
6. Mr Parry went on to ask the Lord Privy Seal whether the reasons for the decision not to allow Ms Vertucci to remain in Hong Kong would be given in any reply to the petition. The Lord Privy Seal said that the situation was in some ways analogous to that of Northern Ireland where he as Secretary of State has powers to exclude people without giving reasons. Mr Parry stressed that he and his colleagues felt strongly about this case; many Christian bodies felt the same and that the Observer was going to take the matter up. It was doing a good deal of harm to Hong Kong's image in this country. Finally, he asked the Lord Privy Seal to write to him that afternoon confirming that Mr Parry had raised the issue with him.
7. Before Mr Parry left, the Lord Privy Seal spoke to him about three Parliamentary Questions Mr Parry had put down and to which the Lord Privy Seal was giving a holding reply. The information requested was highly technical and the Lord Privy Seal was not seeking to avoid the issue but merely to answer them accurately. More time was needed for this. Mr Parry said that he fully understood and would be content if he had a reply within two weeks.
The meeting ended at 3.30 pm.
Cc:
Governor, Hong Kong
CONFIDENTIAL