TNAG-2084-FCO40-2969-Death-penalty-in-Hong-Kong-1990 — Page 76

10. In the case of Bermuda, where we cannot legislate by Order in Council, we shall have to make separate arrangements. Our preferred

course would be that the Bermuda government should introduce its own

legislation to abolish the death sentence. Bermuda's recent

referendum on capital punishment produced a very low turnout

(32.6%). It is possible that the Bermuda government, in spite of

the 4:1 majority in favour of retention, will prove responsive to the evident wishes of the UK government, particularly when it

becomes clear that we propose to take swift and decisive action with

regard to the Caribbean Dependent Territories. Bermuda's

sophisticated press and parliamentary opinion will not welcome the prospect of Bermuda becoming an isolated retentionist outpost.

However, if the Bermuda Government does not enact its own

abolition Bill, we shall need to introduce primary UK legislation

for Bermuda in the next Parliament (or earlier if an execution were

imminent). We could, I admit, encounter domestic political problems

here. We should have to decide whether to allow a free vote on the

Second Reading. It is conceivable that some MPS, normally

abolitionist, might vote against the Bill on the grounds that the wishes of the people of Bermuda should be respected.

Others might ask why a referendum on this move is possible in Bermuda when the Government has repeatedly refused one in the UK.

But, in

circumstances where the Bermuda government felt unwilling or unable

to introduce legislation, I see not alternative to our pursuing

this course.

11. There remains the exclusion of Hong Kong from what I propose.

I shall be ready to answer appropriately. In brief I have concluded that in present circumstances when we are seeking to build up the autonomy of the territory in the run up to 1997, it would be undesirable if the Hong Kong Government were required to follow UK

legislation in a particularly sensitive area.

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