Mr Cortazzi PS/PUS
282
HKG 386/1
акад
RE
51
- 8 DEC 1977
Mn hyvin.
DESA D
INDEX
REGIS RY Action Take.
pu
No
A
BERMUDA: SECRETARY OF STATE'S STATEMENT
1.
HKGD, with WIAD help, are submitting on the action following from the Governor of Bermuda's telephone message last night (No 2270 to Brussels). This minute deals only with the physical handling of the Statement.
2.
ค
Instructions were received at about 1830 on Sunday 4 December that the Secretary of State wanted draft statement that evening. A draft was prepared, submitted to the Secretary of State and then to No 10 for the Prime Minister to approve before he left for Brussels on 5 December. A member of WIAD discussed with the Resident Clerk the need to cable the text of this to Bermuda when it had been confirmed that the wording was acceptable to the Secretary of State. In the event this was not done because for local security reasons, the Deputy Governor's Office had gone off the air. On Monday I was under the impression that the draft had been telegraphed but I did not check this and this was my fault.
3.
The final version of the Secretary of State's statement was available from the Parliamentary Unit at 1445 yesterday. Since I had ascertained that the text would be on the wires in the verbatim series within an hour of speaking, it did not occur to me to cable it just before leaving for the House.
4.
In the event there was a circuit failure in the COI machinery and the text of the statement was not telegraphed although the supplementaries were. We duly discovered this after enquiring this morning. This explains why the Governor's message refers to the Reuter Report and not to the COI Report. The text of the statement was telegraphed early this morning.
The PUS may wish to send a message to Sir Peter Ramsbotham on the lines of the draft attached.
x/5.
*Not received. XN
JJ.
Sea (283)
6 December 1977
cc Mr Stratton
HK & GD
PCB.
PC Duff
West Indian and Atlantic Dept
17/02/17)
N.B. Mug O'Connn. Home OID (5144), though say
ever in COI the lext of Du Owen's that due to another ever in COI
to Statement was telexed to BTC H.K. unlead of Governas office. O`D have lelignabled BTC HR & han list + GH. asal.
J.J.9/12.
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