Mr. Gaminara
Mr. prients
CONFIDENTIAL
49
I can with to No 10 as you suggest. In the light of the Minister's news, I do not hich
Proposed letter to No.10 about the Granada
Television film on the Hong Kong Police
You have asked for the Minister of State's views
on these minutes.
2.
Lord Shepherd is reluctant to suggest to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary that he should advise the Prime Minister as proposed, for the following reasons:-
(1) The only person we can be sure will be
allowed a supplementary question is
Lt. Commander Maydon.
(2) Lord Shepherd doubts very much whether the
Prime Minister would be willing to encourage an inspired supplementary of this sort from Lt. Commander Maydon, since it could easily spark off unwelcome interventions by those MPs who we know are critical of the Hong Kong administration, e.g. John Rankin and
Frank Allaun.
In short, by deliberately introducing a reference to the film on the Hong Kong Police Force which appeared on Granada Television on 17 March we run the risk of
inviting unnecessary controversy.
3. In regard to the third paragraph of Hong Kong telegram No. 297, Lord Shepherd feels that the Governor is perhaps making heavy weather of this. Almost
a month has elapsed since the film was shown in this country and, in Lord Shepherd's view, it is now a dead duck. He doubts whether a letter to The Times would help since letters in that paper usually spark off correspondence giving the "other" point of view.
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