TNAG-0722-FCO40-920-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 65

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Mr Cortazt

PS/Mr Rowlands

thec 38

CITY

1

PREVES/OPTY NO. 51 21 JUN 1978

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

PA

REGISTRY Action Takon

No 1 (#22/60) Se

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: LETTER FROM MR GEOFFREY EDGE MP

Flag A 244

1.

Flag B

294

Flag C (62

Flag D 173

227

Flag E

Flag F

213

Flag G 6226

V

Minister

Aldridge, Brownhills) has written

Mr Geoffrey Edge (Labour to the Secretary of State about the abolition of capital punish- ment in the Dependent Overseas Territories. He has been approached by Mr Colin Bagnall, who first wrote to the Secretary of State following the executions in Bermuda last December.

2. Mr Judd replied to Mr Bagnall on 12 January. Mr Bagnall was

not satisfied with this reply and has since been in correspondence with my predecessor in this Department, Mr Stewart. Mr Bagnall has been particularly insistent that he should be given details of the steps which Ministers have taken or are planning to take to avoid any further executions in Dependent Territories. In a letter of 1 March Mr Stewart explained that he was not in a position to provide this information since the matter was still under consideration within the Government.

3. When the subject of capital punishment in the Dependent Territories was discussed in Cabinet on 23 February, Ministers decided that it would be inopportune to raise the matter in Parliament at the present time. I attach an extract from the minutes of the meeting; the Prime Minister's summing up of the discussion is on page 6.

4. The last Labour MP to raise this subject was Mr Arthur Latham who wrote to Mr Rowlands on 12 April following an earlier exchange. Mr Rowlands decided that it would be better to explain the position to him orally rather than in a letter and he may like to handle Mr Edge's enquiry in the same way.

5. I submit two alternative draft replies. The first is designed for use if Mr Rowlands should decide to speak to Mr Edge, and the second if he prefers to send a full written reply. The latter is based on a reply which the Secretary of State sent to the International Secretary of the Labour Party on 27 April.

300

255) reply.

12 June 1978

Kündm

RJT McLaren

Hong Kong & General Dept

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