TNAG-2201-FCO40-3156-Hong-Kong-nationality-1990 — Page 104

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Kong whom he feared would be left stateless unless special provision was made for them. Mrs Hicks was very worried about the assurances scheme and was inclined to vote against it. She talked of this in terms of putting her constituents first, arguing that it was extremely difficult to support a scheme which involved queue jumping when every week she was telling Asian families at her constituency surgeries that she could not help their relatives in the sub-continent get round Britain's immigration rules. Alan Amos also foresaw great difficulties over the assurances package and was not sure whether he would be able to give his support. Solid Tory voters in his constituency (Hexham) were very worried and believed that the Government was breaking its promises on immigration. Mark Wolfson commented that the Government's decision not to allow self-determination to Hong Kong looked increasingly strange in the light of events in Eastern Europe and inside the USSR. Mrs Hicks was uncertain whether people in Hong Kong were really frightened by last June's events in Peking or whether they were using the memory of that atrocity to extract greater concessions from London.

Comment

4. Most of the discussion on Hong Kong was taken up by the Secretary of State patiently expounding the reasons for the package and the principles under which it would operate. Two themes seemed to strike home with his audience: that the purpose of the scheme. was to anchor people in Hong Kong rather than encourage them to come to Britain, and that the price of doing nothing might be a major refugee problem later on. The discussion was serious and courteous throughout. It reinforced my belief that both the Secretary of State and Mr Maude must have ample time available in their programmes between now and the early stages of the proposed Bill in which to put forward the Government's case to backbenchers either informally in the Commons tea room and lobbies or at meetings such as this one.

Dur

David Lidington Special Adviser

15 January 1990

C.C. PS

PS/All Ministers PS/PUS

Mr Weston

Mr Gillmore

Mr McLaren

Mr Cooper, Planners

Mr Burns, News Dept

Mr Lever, SecPol Mr Paul, HKD

Mr Holt, PRU PPSS

Mr Fraser

Mr K Carlisle MP