TNAG-0215-FCO40-251-Appointments-to-membership-of-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Ko-1970 — Page 107

CONFIDENTIAL

I too agree with the basic thought set out by

Mr. Laird.

2.

Apart from the inhibitions which the political set up in

the Trade Union Movement and which the practice of drawing on

persons of such independent means that they can give priority

to the work of the two Councils, places on the Governor's

field of choice, our correspondence with him has in my view

also revealed certain inhibitions which almost subconsciously

seem to influence his thought.

3.

The first is an implied assumption that the Legislative

Council ought to be a body capable of reaching a consensus

and that it should not contain elements of permanent dissent

from the majority view i.e. that the membership should be

such as could be expected, however critical it might be in

debate, to be basically committed to reach a generally agreed

solution and remove the risk of the Governor having to impose

a solution by the use of his original and casting votes.

4. Secondly, he seems to have the feeling that members

should represent interests rather than be selected on their

individual merits, i.e. that one could not appoint an academic

from one of the universities without balancing him with an

academic from the other. The limited numbers of the two

Councils would therefore make it difficult to appoint any

academic at all, but invidious as it might be in so compact

a community for the Governor to have to choose Mr. A rather

than Mr. A plus Mr. B, I am not convinced that it might not

be right for him to do so.

/5...

CONFIDENTIAL