Mr Paul
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34016 Mr Morm Entla
EGISTRY 0 1 JUN 1990
DESK OFFICEH
Hong Kong Nationality: Bill
A number of points arose at the Secretary of State's meeting with FCO Ministers this morning and in his meeting with Parliamentary Private Secretaries in the House last night.
a.
b.
The Secretary of State would like more anecdotes about people who will now stay in Hong Kong if they get a British passport under the proposed scheme. The story about the lady in the Body Shop is now getting rather over-worked;
It was suggested at the PPSS' meeting that it might be helpful to calculate how much tax the Hong Kong people would pay in the UK if they came here. There are two points here: firstly, to illustrate how much the Exchequer would gain if the worst happened and 50,000 people immigrated into the UK; and secondly, it would help to support the argument that Hong Kong people would not in fact want to come here if we could show how their financial circumstances would be much worse if they did so. It should be possible to show that many such people would find themselves earning less and paying much more in tax. I think you will need to find a friendly and imaginative Treasury official to help with these sums.
24
5 April 1990
CC:
PS/Mr Maude
Mr McLaren Mr Lidington
le
(R N Peirce)