CONFIDENTIAL
T
Registry No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted.
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
................................. In Confidence
DRAFT MINUTE
To: Secretary of State
Type 1 +
FROM
PUS
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
(3002) Dmd. * 400M 10/73 LLtd. 233/1
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
that it is
annemerely a part of
reorganisation
or minis titilivie
GIBRALTAR
1.
The FCO Inspectors have been reviewing the work of the Joint FCO/ODM Departments and Southern European Department.
2. I have accepted on grounds both of economy and efficiency recommendations which inter alia. involve disbanding Gibraltar and General Department. Apart from Aid work, which the ODM will now take on
with continuing political guidance from SED all responsibility for Gibraltar affairs will be consolidated in SED, who already handle the colony's external affairs.
3.
Although purely an internal reorganisation we cannot ignore the political interpretation which the Gibraltarians are prone to put on any action we take. They could interpret the merger as evidence of a wish to push them towards Spain.
The change is
But
I believe that if carefully handled and timed we can avoid any real risk in relation to Gibraltar. Certainly we have more to fear from the possible closure of the Gibraltar dockyard. The first and most important step will be for the Governor to let Sir Joshua Hassan know in confidence
and in my
-
that which
view the more informally the better -
to make the hame way the
Petter what we have in mind. Provided his reaction were not too
unfavourable-then-we-would expect to go ahead with
these-administrative moves-before-the-Spring-
Clearly if Sir J Hassan's reaction were very unfavour-
the timing able we might have to think again But-presented as a minor administrative reorganisation-the-change should not cause him unmanageable problems.
Tut, I have not about the sufğleme
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