3.
Assuming that the Prime Minister decides not to hold a
meeting on Hong Kong businessmen, and that she accepts the recommendation from the Secretary of State and the Home Secretary on resettlement of boat people (and neither assumption is, I fear, a foregone conclusion) we shall have to move very fast if a decision on resettlement is to be announced before Parliament goes into recess. It is highly desirable that this deadline should be met, so as to create the best climate for Lord Glenarthur's visit to Hong
Kong in early January.
4.
I am therefore submitting today a draft letter from the Private Secretary to No 10 Downing Street, endorsing the line which we expect to be taken in the Home Office letter and proposing how any announcement of a fresh resettlement commitment could best be
handled. It is self-explanatory. I hope that the Secretary of
Contingency State can agree to look at my draft on that basis.
There will be a
need for consultation between Private Office and the Home Secretary's Private Office tomorrow morning in order to ensure consistency with the exact text which the Home Secretary has decided
should be sent. If our letter can be sent in the course of
tomorrow the Prime Minister will be able to consider outstanding
issues over the weekend.
сбыт
CO Hum
CONFIDENTIAL