CONFIDENTIAL
The unofficial members of EXCO, led by Baroness Dunn, are uncomfortable (and ineffective) at defending to their
LegCo colleagues controversial EXCO decisions, particularly
when the EXCO members themselves have been pushed into a
decision by the Administration (eg. the Court of Final
Appeal CFA).
6.
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The CFA decision brought these tensions to a head and
illustrated the problems we will continue to face in
securing support in Hong Kong for JLG decisions:
7.
the confidentiality requirements of the JLG make it
difficult to prepare LegCo opinion for impending JLG
announcements;
Hong Kong politicians therefore tend to see not how far
we have pushed the Chinese, but how far we ourselves have
been pushed;
since our JLG team is led by a British diplomat (albeit
with HKG support) the JLG is seen as a group with no
accountability in Hong Kong, taking decisions directly
affecting Hong Kong's way of life.
The
Problems with LegCo should not be overstated.
Administration suffered a high-profile reverse on the CFA, and are having to work a lot harder to justify their
budgetary requests. There has been much squabbling about how LegCo should organise its work (temporarily resolved in
favour of minimum change: a relief for the Chinese, but
inefficiency will continue).
8.
But business is getting done: the new LegCo Finance
Committee have approved 99% of the funds sought by the
Administration so far; and proposals to import more labour
were accepted in the face of strong union opposition.
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CONFIDENTIAL
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