Circular Home 'A' 155/84
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1H 9NL
3 September 1984
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MEDIA HANDLING OF CALLS BY FOREIGN VISITORS ON BRITISH MINISTERS
1. The Prime Minister and FCO Ministers see a large number of foreign visitors in London, usually at the request of FCO departments. If the visit is worth setting up, it is worth getting the public presentation right. There is usually some specific British interest which can be promoted in the context of these visits.
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From now on, the main steering brief for discussions between any important foreign visitor and the Prime Minister or FCO Ministers should include a short separate note on what might be said to the press after the meeting. This should include:
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any points which might help advance our interests in the country concerned;
points on which we should be able to claim the visitor's support for our policies;
a defensive line on points which the press may raise and on which we may be vulnerable;
wherever appropriate, specific consideration should be given to ways of underlining our commitment to organisations of which the UK is a member, such as the European Community, Atlantic Alliance and Commonwealth.
The advance press line should be drafted by the briefing department in consultation with News Department. It would then be fine-tuned and cleared after the call by the Private Office concerned before being issued by the No 10 Press Office or News Department. The line should distinguish between points which should be publicised after the call on the FCO and those which can better be made in the context of the call on the Prime Minister. It should note any points on which Ministers should agree the line with the visitor. An example is attached.
3.
Any questions to News Department.
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