would not be surprised to see an adverse reaction to the fact
that the first cut off date would be as early as September 1993,
almost four years before the change in the territory's status,
and that the age group affected would have only a few months to
act after Parliamentary approval of the Order.
9.
Thirdly, we are concerned about the complicated nature of
the scheme. Having a whole series of cut off dates for BN (0),
a cut off date for BDTC and escape clauses for those who have good reason for missing the dates would make for considerable
difficulties in drafting the order, difficulties
administration (assessing myriad reasons for having missed dates)
and scope for confusion in the minds of the public.
in
10. We would ideally like to see a simpler scheme with resources
adjusted so that later and fewer cut off dates were possible but
Hong Kong may see the success of their similar scheme for
identity cards as rebuttal of this argument.
NEXT STEPS
11. The intention of officials is to put the draft scheme before
the July 14 meeting of the Hong Kong Executive Council. We have alerted the FCO, who are coordinating the response to Hong Kong,
to the fact that, particularly since the Home Office would be
responsible for the Order/s in Council, the discussion there
should not be concluded until
until they know that Home Office
Ministers are content. We have already warned FCO officials of
our concerns and they are in the process of informing their own
Ministers of what is afoot. If the Executive Council approve the
scheme Hong Kong propose to issue a press statement explaining
the decision and emphasising the benefits of applying early and
the international acceptability of BN (0) passports. A major
publicity campaign would follow forewarning the public of the programme and advising those eligible to apply in good time.