THE Government will next week clarify whether Britain has backed away from promises that it would offer refuge to Hongkong British nationals in case of turmoil after 1997. Chief Secretary Sir David Ford will tell legislators at their meeting on Wednesday details of the British and Hongkong Government's position on the issue. Legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing said she was surprised to hear Home Office Minister Charles Wardle saying that only the 7,000 ethnic minorities in Hongkong would be allowed to enter Britain in case of emergency. She said Britain had promised in 1985 that any Hongkong British national could enter Britain if they had nowhere else to go after 1997. Ms Lau, chairman of the Legislative Council sub-committee on the issue, has written to the Home Office seeking clarification. She described as ''ridiculous'' the British Government's apparent decision not to honour its previous promise. The sub-committee will meet Senior Executive Councillor Lady Dunn on Monday to discuss the issue and may meet on Thursday to chart its course of action. Early yesterday, the House of Lords voted in favour of providing stateless Hongkong citizens with right of abode in Britain by 60 votes to 48. A Home Office spokesman in London said the Government would consider the implications of the vote, but said it was in no way legally binding. Former Hongkong governor Lord Wilson had been delayed taking the shuttle from Edinburgh and missed the first few minutes of the debate. He took the floor at 7.15 pm and spoke for eight minutes in favour of the motion, saying: ''It is a community which contributed enormously to the success of Hongkong, economically and in terms of its administration; it is a community which deserves our sympathy.''