XN000022-1973-10-17 — Page 70

23

–

Wednesday, October 17, 1973

and to some extent other facilities necessary to get the results they and the

public wanted and the situation required. These points have now been

substantiated in Sir Alastair Blair Kerr's report.

Mis calls for now measures.

Where

With regard to legal weapons, on the advice of the Executive

Council, the Government generally accepts the objectives of Sir Alastair's

recommendations. They are being examined in detail in consultation with

the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Clearly such drastic changes in

established principles of law must be looked at very carefully indeed.

We hope that legislation can be introduced shortly before Council.

appropriate, discussions with the main staff associations will be held as

some of the changes suggested to civil service regulations will be controversial

and staff associations will, rightly, seek to protest the interests of their

members. But I am sure that the service as a whole will accept that grave

situations call for unusual measures, and that honest officers, the huge

majority, have nothing to fear and indeed everything to gain,

Sir Alastair left open the question whether the unit to investigate

corruption should continue to be part of the polise or not. But he implied

a personal preference for separation. It is no criticism of the police, or

of the devoted work of the Anti Corruption Branch, to say that I agree with him.

/I believe.**

Page 70Page 71