Miss Kelly (HKIOD)
Reference. CONFIDENTI AL
12
LIFE PEERAGES FOR HONG KONG
1. Please refer to your minute of 10 December.about Dr Chung's proposal that"the Hong Kong Government should consider nominations to the Crown for appointment as life peers of prominent Hong Kong people who can ably speak on our behalf in the Upper House."
2. The power to create peers (including life peers) is vested in Her Majesty.
3. Where titles are conferred for parliamentary or other public services, it is usual for the Crown to be guided largely by the advice of the Prime Minister. I believe each incoming Prime Minister appoints three Privy Counsellors to act as a Political Honours Scrutiny Committee to consider, and report to him on the character and anticedents of persons on whom it is proposed to confer honours.
4. It would not be appropriate for the Crown to be advised on the creation of peers otherwise than by UK Ministers and there could therefore be no question of direct nominations to Her Majesty from the Government of Hong Kong.
5. I suppose that there must have been occasions in the past when the Crown has been advised by the Prime Minister of the day to confer a peerage on a British subject resident in a part of Her Majesty's dominions overseas for public services rendered there. I have a feeling there were one or two Indian peers and there must have been peers from the Dominions and self-governing colonies.
6.
I am not aware however that the Crown has ever been advised to create peers from a colony with the object of providing a form of representation of that colony in the House of Lords.
It may have been suggested before, eg in the context of the Malta integration talks.
7.
It seems to me to be very doubtful whether it would be wise to accept the idea of creating peers in order to give Hong Kong representation in the Lords.
8.
Even to single out one or more outstanding individuals from Hong Kong for peerages as a reward for public services would, as Mr Stuart says, be difficult in practice and even if persons of such distinction could be found, there might well be repercussions in other territories.
A.R.R.
11 December 1973
A R Rushford Deputy Legal Adviser
DD 145177 219242 500M 4/73 GM 3643/2
CONFIDENTIAL
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