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settled here.
4. Had the Home Secretary proceeded with the plan to announce this by means of an inspired PQ on 11 January, there would have been no difficulty. Mr Waddington has however decided to delay an announcement until the second reading of the Hong Kong Bill. His
reason is that he does not wish to draw parliamentary attention at
this stage to a concession to a special category outside the
nationality package.
5. Mr Waddington's concern is understandable, but the Secretary of
State will be in an embarrassing position in Hong Kong unless he is
able to make clear the Government's intentions if asked.
6. The question of the widows of Hong Kong ex-servicemen is de minimis. But it has assumed disproportionate political symbolism in
Hong Kong. After all the political effort we have expended on the
nationality package as a whole, it would make no sense if we were to
fail to cover this group, few if any of whom would be likely to come
to the UK in view of their age. I understand that Home Office
officials had intended to propose this solution to their Ministers,
but have not yet had time to do so.
ARPanc
AR Paul
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