TNAG-0303-FCO40-339-Effects-of-tariffs-on-imports-of-cotton-textiles-to-UK-from--1971 — Page 123

Mr Keeble

TEXTILES

Mr Tickell has now told me that. Mr Rippon will not be at Cabinet

on 30 Nov.; the draft minute I prepared

for Mr Rippon to send to the S of S will there- fore be copied to the Cabinet Office.

1. Although I have already given you oral briefing on this morning's meeting in the DTI, it might be useful if I set down for record, in what is admittedly an ever changing situation, what happened.

2. This meeting considered the various drafts (which we circulated to interested departments yesterday) against the decision that this subject will probably now be considered by Cabinet on 30 November (the DTI are drafting a paper for their Secretary of State; this might be ready by tomorrow) and that the Debate on the Affirmative Resolution will take place on 1 December. Before the detailed discussions took place, I made it clear that the FCO were likely to continue to oppose the proposition to have both tariffs and quotas and, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to argue that Europe should not be the main excuse given for our change in policy if Ministers decided in Cabinet that such a change should be made. Finally, on Hong Kong, I said that whatever we did would have to be in the form of one telegram, probably from the Secretary of State to the Governor, which would not only set out the general material available in the ordinary telegram to posts but would cope with the constitutional awkwardnesses that an adverse decision would raise.

3. Given that the EEC point is not resolved (I am asking EID to deal directly with DTI and, if necessary, thereafter, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster,) I have also suggested to EID that they prepare (in draft) the necessary brief for the Cabinet Meeting on the EEC aspect so that this can either be incorporated in a single brief supplementary to the one I submitted on 23 November (for the meeting of the EPC) or alternatively as a brief which the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster would use in Cabinet to cope with the EEC question, thus leaving the Secretary of State to argue on the basic question of whether we change our policy or not.

4. Although there is still much of principle to be resolved, the DTI then went through the various drafts with the intention of submitting them to their Ministers in the weekend boxes, after the revised drafts have been circulated for final comments within the DTI (we shall again get copies but as the main points we were asked to make by geographical departments will be included, I would not propose to circulate these).

5. The DTI thought there would be advantage in sending the telegrams once their Ministers had approved them on an embargoed basis, so that once Cabinet had decided an appropriately short executive telegram could go to posts. I discussed this point specifically

CONFIDENTIAL

/with