92
HKB 040/2!
12
FROM:
DATE:
CC:
J G Rice
Parliamentary Relations Unit
9 March 1988
Private Secretary
PS/Mrs Chalker
PS/Mr Mellor
PS/Mr Eggar
PS/Lord Glenarthur
SAFD
SAMD
News Dept Sec Pol
Head of
of HKD
ра
pa viz
DEBATES FOLLOWING THE CONSOLIDATED FUND BILL : THURSDAY 10 MARCH
1. The Speaker's Ballot for the above debate has now taken place and they have notified me that three FCO subjects have been put down. The one which is likely to be reached is:
2.
Item No 4 Dr John Marek: The Constitution of Hong
Kong and the Basic Law
The Consolidated Fund Bill is the second main item of business of the day, will start at about 7pm and will go into an all-night sitting with the Government seeking a closure at about 8am the following morning. There will be a time limit of 11⁄2 hours on each subject with the exception of Item 2, which means that Item 4 will start at about lam. As some debates on other subjects may not occupy the full time allotted or be withdrawn it will be necessary to be prepared for an earlier sitting. In last years debates Item 11 was reached, briefly, the following morning.
3. Mr Eggar will handle the deabte on behalf of the FCO. HKD should liaise direct with PS/Mr Eggar about the length of the required wind up speech and supplementaries.
4.
In addition to the reachable debates two further debates have been tabled at No 14 and No 15. They are:
No 14 Mr Jeremy Corbyn : UK relations with Chile
No 15 Mr Andrew Hunter : UK policy towards
Bophuthatswana
On present calculation these debates are unlikely to be reached and consequently fall by the wayside. However, just in case, I should be grateful if SAMD and SAED could prepare some general briefing and references from their files.
5. Following this series of debates will be the Adjournment Debate, the last business of the day, on the subject of "The