TNAG-0722-FCO40-920-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 167

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RECEIVER Y

28 APR 1978

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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN DEPENDENT OVERSEAS TERRITORIES

1. I should be grateful for your advice on how to reply to the attached letter from the International Secretary of the Labour Party about capital punishment in the dependent territories.

2. You will recall that in answering questions following his statement in the House of Commons last December, the Secretary of State indicated that he was prepared, if it were Parliament's wish, to reconsider the present policy towards capital punish- Flag C (ment in the dependent territories. Dr Owen reiterated this in Flag Dhis reply of 16 February to Ms Little's earlier letter on the

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3. However, when the Secretary of State's proposal that the policy should be reviewed in Parliament was considered in Cabinet on 23 February, Ministers decided that the present political climate in the UK made this an inopportune time to introduce any changes in the present policy. It was recognized that there was a growing movement in the Conservative Party in favour of restoring the death penalty in the UK for terrorist offences and there was a risk that this might become a major issue in a pre-election period. To raise the question of capital punishment in the dependent territories at this juncture might increase that risk, since it could encourage public debate of the domestic issues. Dr Owen, therefore, undertook to defend the present policy until a new Labour Government with an overall majority could deal with the matter once and for all.

4. Since the Cabinet decision of 23 February we have tried to give non-committal replies to any enquiries that have been received on this subject. However, in his summing up of the Cabinet discussion the Prime Minister said "the danger of stimulating public debate of the domestic issue should be pointed out to those Labour MPs who have been pressing for a change in the present policy in the dependent overseas territories". I shall be grateful if you could advise whether we should be similarly frank in replying to Ms Little, or whether we should send her a reply in more general terms, for example by simply telling her that Ministers have not yet decided whether to take the initiative in raising the subject.

6 April 1978

W.E. Quastill

WE Quantrill

Hong Kong & General Dept

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