responsibility must lie with the Whitehall and Westminster authorities. We have for years past deplored the failure of the Soviets to allow their citizens the right to travel freely abroad, a right which China also denies it's citizens, when those same citizens however express their wish to travel abroad and reside elsewhere we do all we can to assist their rulers to enforce their strictures that their citizens cannot go abroad.
My suspicion is of course that the U.KL government is kowtowing to Peking for fear of losing the lucrative business which is Hong Kong. So much for our adherence to the motto of 'Liberty' which used to adorn our party badges, or is it still there but just forgotten about when it suits the pocket. I am sorry Walter but I think we have forgotten about the other forms of liberty in our eager searc-h for economic liberty, it is laudable in the extreme to seek a society wherein the individual has liberty from poverty and the fear thereof but it is not the only form of liberty and they are XX all to be valued, at least to some degree. There is much that I have chosen to turn a blind eye to or to fight to effect a change from within with regard to the pronouncements of our party and government, we are after all a broad coalition of people with some commonality of interests. For instance I like powerful unions but not closed shops, I like town and country planning controls but not unbridled bureaucracy to implement them, I like a liberal society provided we are not to be inundated with hard core pornography (and being at sea I've seen stuff that would make your hair curl all over the world) and provided my children (and others) are protected adequately from drugs; on each of these issues and others I feel that we have perhaps been following paths which are risky if not positively dangerous for our society, I have however gone along with the majority, I am afraid that it now appears I have reached a watershed. Either you can give me an assurance that the return of ordinary refugees from mainland China by the Hong Kong government is not U.K. government policy and that it is the intention of the government that such returns XXXXX are to cease or my party membership card goes on the fire and my services in future political affrays go to somebody who belongs to a party with stronger moral standards. It is not a thing I do lightly, I have been a member for over 18 years and have held office from ward secretary to constituency chairman, I have given long hours to assist the return of labour representatives at both local and national government level in the belief that this was in the best interests of people, but that must be in the interests of all people not just of the few even if the few number the 60 million in these islands. It must surely be about time that we stood up and defended the rights of these refugees, we
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