TNAG-0831-FCO40-1039-Commonwealth-Parliamentary-Association-(CPA)-annual-conferen-1979 — Page 101

18.77

sistant Heads of:

EIDLER OCT 1979

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CAED

HKGD

CRD

MAED

HKG.

Defence Dept

M&CD

M&VD

MY 2.

Rhodesia Dept

RID SAFD

Action Taken

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FRD INDEX

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COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION (CPA):

1.

A.

© N Clarke / Misyrepos

SEAD

SPD

UND

- I imagine we

did a d-ti's brief

last year: can it be warmed up, or downl

ODA (Mr M Pennington, weed Development Coordin-to ation Dept)

Now see t

seek

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

rewrite it?

0%

The 1979 Annual Conference of the CPA will be held in Wellington, New Zealand, from 17 November to 1 December. The agenda is at Annex

A list of the members of our delegation from both Conservative and Labour Parties, is at Annex B. The Lord Privy Seal will lead the delegation, and is expected to arrive in Wellington on 25 November. Mr Neil Marten, in his capacity of Treasurer at the CPA Headquarters Secretariat, will also attend the conference.

2. CPA annual conferences are gatherings at which Commonwealth Parliamentarians exchange views on political, economic and other subjects of mutual interest. No resolutions are passed and no communique is issued. These meetings provide however an opportunity for our MPs to explain the British point of view on current problems to as many as 200 other Parliamentarians from a wide selection of developed and developing countries. The UK delegation has always taken pride in being one of the best informed, and considerable attention is paid to our members' speeches. They speak as individual Parliamentarians, but on the whole an esprit de corps prevails and the facts of the Government's position, and arguments to support it, are well used by delegates.

3. All members of our delegation will need unclassified briefs as indicated at Annex C. These should contain general background infor- mation, not 'Line to Take'. They should be concise, but delegates are not necessarily well informed on all topics and it is therefore necessary to include a certain amount of basic material in the briefs. Some members of the delegation may not be used to handling confiden- tial papers.

The risk of their briefs being mislaid cannot therefore be excluded. The briefs will also be made available to delegates from the legislatures of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

4. We should be prepared for criticism of our policies on Rhodesia and Southern Africa, particularly as the issue of the renewal of sanctions will have been debated shortly before the conference opens. The briefs, even though unclassified, should contain as much material as possible to enable our delegates to participate effectively in debates. It is appreciated that in some cases updating will be necessary after submission of briefs to CCD. Departments should submit such amendments to briefs as rapidly as possible, or in any event by 8 November, to ensure that the revised information can be passed to delegates.

5.

The delegation leader will need classified briefs which he may use for background in debates, in bilateral discussions and to brief members of the delegation. We have identified topics (Annex D) on which, subject to the views of Departments, we consider our delegation might come under pressure. I should be grateful if the recipients /of this

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