CONFIDENTIAL
(d)
5.
Ex Servicemen:
There is no FCO reason to resist the
granting of British citizenship to this group. Legal
advice is however that most of them are not eligible
under Section 4(5) of the BNA and there i s no other
discretion in the BNA allowing their registration.
I attach a short brief we have prepared for Mr Renton's
meeting with Mr Waddington.
6.
This is going to be
to
difficult debate: there will be
considerable sympathy in the House for much of what Miss Dunn
has urged. The Home Office tactics are likely to be to listen
hard to the arguments presented (on the grounds that this was
the purpose of having two debates) and to undertak e consider them, though they are also likely to point out the
difficulties involved.
I think this is right: i f
concessions. are made now, Hong Kong will probably pocket them
and a sk for more. The best time to make concessions would be
when presenting a definitive Order.
7.
any
SO
The difficulties in Hong Kong should not be
underestimated. When we inevitably reject some of Miss Dunn's
proposals there is likely to be a strong reaction. The Hong
Kong Government, under pressure of the unanimous advice of Unofficials in EXCO, have publicly endorsed the proposals, we shall be publicly rebuffing them. It will be important to
make som e concession to the proposals, and I hope that this will prove possible, at least on the passport endorsement. On
the other hand we
have been highly unpopular in Hong Kong on
nationality issues since at least 1981, there is little
realistic prospect of overcoming the general public resentment and suspicion, and I suppose that we do not therefore stand to
lose much that we have not already lost.
9 January 1986
A C Galsworthy
Hong Kong Department
CONFIDENTIAL