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the bear
Hong Kong Government might be able to meet 50% of that additional cost, ie. £7.5 million. It was important that agreement should be reached quickly. Tenders for the new naval facilities at Stonecutters had to go out in the next few months if Tamar was to be vacated on time for redevelopment. Clearly the question of the patrol craft had to be sorted out before then. Mr Hamilton said that he was not fully up to date on the financial position. He would consult with
officials and come back to Lord Caithness.
Comment
4.
Not surprisingly Mr Hamilton did not give any ground on the principle of payment of the patrol craft. Nor was he entirely up to speed on the current state of financial negotiations between the Hong Kong Government and the MOD. However, it has since transpired that there is also some confusion at this end. Mr Paul's helpful minute of today's date, which the Minister saw before he spoke to Mr Hamilton, clarifies the status of the £7.5 million (ie. 50% of the MOD's 35% of the additional cost of retaining the patrol vessels). But the Minister may inadvertently have misrepresented the position by implying that the Hong Kong Government were ready to meet this sum (ie. £7.5 million). If so, I should be grateful if you could consider urgently whether, and how, this should be corrected before the MOD say snap on an offer which is not in fact on the table. It would also be helpful if you could set out clearly how this £7.5 million has emerged, since the briefing supplied to the Minister and the PUS does not cover this point. I gather from Mr Burns that the MOD may be trying a sleight of hand by calculating the additional costs of retaining the vessels in Hong Kong as £7.5 million of running costs and an equal sum in capital depreciation.
I spoke cult M:
Bu
12 February 1991
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Zeh
شکارا
Peter Tibber
PS/Lord Caithness
سوده
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