TNAG-0723-FCO40-921-Capital-punishment-in-the-Dependent-Territories-1978 — Page 20

CONFIDENTIAL

293

Flag A (287)

Flag B

Belan Flag C 349

Mr Stratton

Parliamentary Unit

mentary

MKC 38671

RECEIVES

VNO.

27 NOV 1978

DLSK Priben

INDEX

PA

ST

zllon Taken

No 1 3/121 el

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES:

MISS LESTOR'S ORAL PQ

1. I submit a draft reply, together with notes for supplementaries and a background note, to the question by Miss Joan Lestor MP (Labour - Eton and Slough) for oral reply on 22 November. The reply is based on that which was approved for one of the supple- mentaries for the House of Lords debate on the Pitt Report on 8 November.

2.

Miss Lestor has not asked any previous questions on this subject there have indeed been no questions for oral answer since one by Lord Kennet in January but she did write to the Secretary of State on 12 December 1977 forwarding a constituent's enquiry about the recent executions in Bermuda. The Secretary of State replied on 22 December that the Government would be reviewing

the whole question of capital punishment in the dependent territories after the Christmas recess. Miss Lestor returned to the charge on Flags E&F 12 January and was told by Mr Rowlands on 1 February that the Govern- (69) +(136) ment were considering ways in which possible changes could be pres-

Flag D

ented to the House and hoped to put these issues forward soon. is plain from this correspondence that Miss Lestor would like to see the appropriate steps taken to avoid any further executions in the dependent territories.

It

Flag G 3. The question was discussed in Cabinet on 23 February when it

was agreed that the political climate in the UK made it an inoppor- tune time to raise the question of capital punishment in the depen- dent territories. It was decided that the Foreign and Commonwealth

Secretary would continue to defend the present position and Cabinet would consider the problem again at an appropriate time.

4.

Interest in the subject has subsided since the beginning of the year, though we have continued to receive occasional letters

CONFIDENTIAL

/from MP's