TNAG-0297-FCO40-333-Employment-of-women-at-night-in-industrial-undertakings-in-H-1971 — Page 12

CONFIDENTIAL

6. In view of the interest shown in this scheme both in

Parliament and the trade union movement here it was clearly

necessary to inform Ministers of the Hong Kong proposals.

The extension of the Hong Kong deadline for publication and

the intervention of the holiday on Friday 28 May left literally

only a few hours for Ministers to look at the proposals.

these circumstances I was instructed by Mr Royle to send a

telegram to Hong Kong regretting that it was not possible to

meet their deadline. I was also instructed to send a further

The first of

In

telegram 24 hours later saying that Ministers had confirmed

that they had no objection to the proposals.

these telegrams produced Hong Kong telegram No. 355 (copy

at Annex C). The facts of the matter are quite clear and

there can be no doubt that the Hong Kong Government should

have referred these proposals to London long before they did.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Hong Kong

Government regrettably tried to ignore the constitutional

position in other words that nothing can be done either here

or in Hong Kong to deter Members of Parliament from exercising

their legitimate right to ask questions about any aspect

of the administration of Hong Kong.

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HONG KONG DEPARTMENT

11 June 1971

3.

CONFIDENTIAL