TNAG-0573-FCO40-706-Monitoring-of-progress-made-on-planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 28

S.T.J.P.

13.12.76

9

LABOUR MPs PRESS FOR SOCIAL REFORMS FOR HONG KONG LOCAL BODIES URGE GOVERNMENT TO HEED PUBLIC

OPINION IN POLICY-MAKING

Seventy-four Labour MPs, in a House of Commons motion on December 9, called

on the British Government to insist on urgent reforms in Hong Kong in the fields of education,

housing, social welfare and labour.

In Hong Kong, 39 organisations in a joint letter to the Chief Secretary, to be passed on to the Governor in London, urged the authorities to gather public opinion before they decide on any policies, especially those concerning social, financial and economic matters.

Several papers quoted reliable sources as saying that the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, in his talks with officials in London, had advised against the appointment of a

Labour politician as the next Hong Kong Governor and that a "welfare state" system was not

suitable for Hong Kong in her present economic situation.

There were more than 20 editorials during the week commenting on the various proposals on social reforms in Hong Kong, and several papers urged that Hong Kong should

not adopt the British system which they said had proved to be a failure.

A number of papers doubted the real motive behind the MPs' proposals and

suspected that their views were expressed out of self-interest.

There were also comments from the papers on labour reforms, including paid leave

for workers, the phasing out of overtime for 16 and 17-year-old workers, and unemployment

and sickness benefits.

The papers expressed divergent views on the various subjects, but the three papers which commented on the phasing out of overtime were opposed to it, saying that the workers

were old enough to choose for themselves;

The following are extracts from the editorials:

PROPOSALS RAISED BY LABOUR MPs

If British politicians are really concerned about Hong Kong, they should respect public opinion here and allow Hong Kong to run its own affairs. They should avoid, imposing the British system, which has proved to be a failure, on

Hong Kong.