TNAG-2743-FCO40-3958-Visits-by-Commonwealth-officials--ministers-and-public-figur-1993 — Page 127

9 February 1993

BY FAX

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REC.

Макогон

3

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

London SWIA 2AH

Telephone: 071-

William G Ehrman Esq

Political Adviser HONG KONG

бел

Sext by faxe

pa

Year William,

ASSOCIATION OF PRESIDING OFFICERS OF COMMONWEALTH LEGISLATURES

16!

Many thanks for copying to me your minute of 16 January to Nicholas Ng.

1.

2. We have been doing some research on this here. That has to some extent been overtaken by Mr Mcleay's unfortunate local difficulty with his bicycle. You will have seen the teleletter from Peter Beckingham in Canberra indicating that after these antics, Mcleay is unlikely to resume the speakership of the Australian House of Representatives, even if the Labour Party are returned at the next election.

3. Beckingham's portrait of Mcleay as something of an unguided missile was borne out by the Clerk to our own House of Commons, Sir Clifford Bolton, with whom we have discussed the events in South Africa. Sir C Bolton told us that Mr Mcleay is indeed a maverick. He suspected that the Hong Kong initiative was purely a piece of private enterprise by Mr Mcleay.

But by taking the line he did, he apparently stirred up the Malaysians and the Indians who became worried (presumably about offending China if Hong Kong continued to participate after 1997).

4.

Sir C Bolton told us that the meeting finally decided that to get around the problem thrown up by Mr Mcleay, the responsibility for inviting participants to the next plenary meeting should be left to the host (Papua New Guinea). It was also apparently agreed that the Standing Committee would not raise any objection to invitations issued by the host. This seems to be slightly different to the account given by the Canadians to you (your para 4).

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