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He had not, of course. so far approached Mr Ip, the trade union candidate he had in mind. Lord Goronwy-Roberts asked whether Mr Ip was likely to accept the appointment. Sir M MacLehose said he would make every effort to persuade him.
6.
Sir M MacLehose said that if Mr Ip did accept, this would in fact produce four representatives of working class interests on the Legislative Council. The fourth was a supervisor of one of the bus companies who was a former bus conductor and trade unionist. He said he must emphasise that he could see no way forward towards the appointment of further trade unionists. There were no other credible figures in the independent trade union movement and these unions were not properly representative of the working population as a whole. But, more important, the selection of more trade unionists from the independents would, in his view, cause considerable difficulties with Peking who would see in this a move to bolster the independents at the expense of their own communist trade unions.
7. Mr Crosland said that he. thought the position would be defensible in the UK if the appointments outlined by Sir Murray MacLehose were made. He congratulated the Governor on a very satisfactory set of proposals.
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8.
Mr Crosland asked whether the package of measures should be announced simultaneously in Hong Kong and in London.
Lord Goronwy-Roberts said that he thought it was right and proper for the Governor to make his statement in Hong Kong and that this should be followed by a ministerial statement here, perhaps in reply to inquiries, but wondered whether Sir Murray MacLehose had any views on the spacing of the two. Sir M MacLehose replied that there should be some gap between the two statements. Otherwise it would look too much like a put-up job. Lord Goronwy-Roberts said that, as he understood it, the Governor's statement would be in early October and as Parliament did not reconvene until late October, there may well be no need for any active steps to publicise the changes here. In his experience developments in Hong Kong were common knowledge in London within a week or ten days and Parliamentary Questions and inquiries from interested parties would arise spontaneously. He said he would consult with the Secretary of State about this matter somewhat nearer the time.
9. Mr Crosland concluded the meeting by saying how pleased he was about the mass transit contracts. Sir M MacLehose said that the British bids had been reasonably competitive but, in strict confidence, the conclusive factor had been the political importance of maintaining a healthy trade link with Britain. He hoped that this development would be borne in mind when dealing with the trading relationship with Hong Kong. He had been worried to hear from Sir Peter Thornton that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly unfavourable to Hong Kong exports here. Mr Crosland took note.
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