TNAG-0551-FCO40-646-Allegations-of-corruption-and-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-police-an-1975 — Page 36

CONFIDENTIAL

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Sir D Watson

Ps/Lord Gorony-Roberts To mue

MP'S LETTER: MR ALLAN ELLIS

Ael

24/7

1. Sir Anthony Royle MP has written to Lord Goronwy-Roberts

enclosing a further letter from his constituent Mr Alan Ellis.

Flag A 2. Following Mr O'Keeffe's submission of 16 June, Lord Goronwy- Flag B Roberts sent Sir A Royle a copy of the Independent Commission Against

Flag C Corruption's report on Mr Ellis's case. Before forwarding the

report to his constituent, Sir A Royle telephoned Lord Goronwy- Roberts's Private Secretary to point out that sub-paragraph 5 (b) of the report is not strictly accurate when it says that no further details about Mr Ellis's specific allegations were made available Flag D between 24 January 1965 and 2 December 1974. (Copies of both these Flag E statements are attached). We have drawn this error to the attention Flag F of the ICAC (Mr Dinwiddy's letter of 27 June); but it does not in Flag G itself affect the conclusion of the report. On 3 July Sir A Royle

wrote to tell Lord Goronwy-Roberts that he had, after all, forwarded the report to Mr Ellis.

3. Any request from here or from the Governor that ICAC should reopen its enquiry into Mr Ellis's case would violate the Commission's fundamental independence. It would also be inconsistent with our general impression that the Commission has made an encouraging start: Lord Goronwy-Roberts will recall that up to 5 May it had launched 1,420 investigations, leading to 187 prosecutions (House of Lords Flag H Official Report, 6 May, column 191). The Commission must choose its

own priorities: in his letter of 6 January Mr Carter, the Independent Flag I Commissioner, himself warned that the only possible offence was a common

law conspiracy and that it would be very difficult to prove this after

such a long lapse of time. Having endorsed the establishment of the Commission as an independent body it is for them, and not for us, to decide on whether to respond to Mr Ellis's suggestion that he should

go to Hong Kong.

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CONFIDENTIAL