TNAG-0917-FCO40-1128-Policy-on-salaries-and-pensions-for-civil-servants-in-Hong-K-1979 — Page 10

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RaRtome

VERNMENT HOUSE

HỒNG KONG

香港總督府

HKK 430/1

13 DEC 1979

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

WEEK

M

DF Murray Esq CMG

LONDON SW 1

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Arveen Amald

/

The cliff, HKGD

Awi711.

1217.12 Aw

Mr. Quglükell

Any Jurtagh action?

29 November 1979

J12.12.

16/12

B210/12 NWilliamson

Can you submit is to As Clift on file, with a shot

PUBLIC OFFICERS (INDUSTRIAL ACTION) BILL 1979

Thank you for your letter of 21 November 1979.

covery minute explain in the background

[12/12

I am sorry that you were given a few anxious moments. As I mentioned first to Hugh Cortazzi and then to you later on the telephone (on Monday 19 November), the ExCo paper by no means reflected my instructions that a "balanced view" be put to ExCo together with the options:

(a) to continue with the law and regulations as they

are, or

(b) introduce something along the lines which the

Attorney General had proposed.

This matter was raised with me as a matter of some urgency on the previous Friday when a number of senior officers, and in particular the Attorney General and Secretary for the Civil Service, advised strongly that a change in the law was urgently required. The political arguments against such a move were quite clear to me but in view of the obvious concern being expressed I decided to seek the advice of the Executive Council.

In the event and in view of the shortage of time (not helped at all by the fact that I was unable to see the ExCo paper on the Saturday as I was merrily engaged receiving two Golden Monkeys from the People's Republic) the paper was not all it should have been. On the Monday, however, I spoke to three key members of Executive Council explaining my views and obtaining a sensible reaction. My purpose in ringing Hugh was simply to set his mind at ease in case by then he had seen the telegram: in the event he had not but I did explain to him briefly why I thought there was no great cause for concern. Later you telephoned me and I was able to tell you that I expected no problems at Executive Council: in the event this was more than amply proved correct.

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

It was.