TNAG-0604-FCO40-752-Capital-punishment-in-Dependent-Territories-1977 — Page 4

RE

HKG 380/1

23 JAN 1978

51

ISTRY

INDEX

TA

Action Taken

CONFIDENTIAL

407

Sai A buff.

P.U.

Pos,

Seen by PUS," who has reported to the Secretary of shite. The Secretary of State agnes mat Sei P. Ramsbothum should

EXECUTIONS IN BERMUDA

come home for consultations.

Ich kew

22/xii

In the attached memorandum I have set out the main events of the last few weeks. I have done so at great length because I believe it is necessary to look at it all in some detail. if we are to understand what it is that has led the Governor to feel his position is undermined and his future usefulness prejudiced. A good deal of what is in the memorandum has been culled from the Governor's files, as well as our own. I hope I have not misreported in any respect, but the Department should perhaps have the opportunity to check this.

2. I have not deal with the law and order situation, with the despatch of British troops etc., because these aspects are hardly relevant to my main purpose.

3. If the facts described in my memorandum are correct, as I believe them to be, I think the following points should be noted.

(a) We did not warn the Governor that the plan to abrogate the

Creech-Jones doctrine and grant reprieves to Burrows and Tacklyn had had to be given up.

(b) We did not give the Governor a sight of the Parliamentary

Statement of 5 December before it was made.

to sme extant (c) We failed to take account of the need, as the Governor and

Can

We

LAST

PAPER

Premier saw it, to disassociate the Governor so far as possible from the decision not to reprieve.

(a) Although we may hope that the point is now academic,

(e)

4.

I think we should clear up as quickly as possible the legal disagreement about the Governor's powers to reprieve once The Queen had refused to do so.

On a point not previously mentioned, the Governor still does not know whether or not his reply to the Parliamentary Labour Party's communication of 2 December was forwarded to the PLP.

I am not at all sure that, if we had avoided the errors described above, the Governor's situation in Bermuda would necessarily be very different today. But he does feel that he has been let down by the FCO and that there has been some failure of communication between the FCO and Hamilton. I suppose this is at least partly a reflection of the fact that, in the normal course, less information flows between the FCO and a Governor than between the FCO and a diplomatic post. In any case, from what the Governor showed me of his own reporting, it does seem to me that the flow from Hamilton to London is not very significant and it is of course relevant that the Governor himself has to be careful not to arouse local suspicions that

CONFIDENTIAL

/he