SOME legislators have threatened to boycott meetings with Britain's Hong Kong minister Alastair Goodlad, after describing yesterday's talks as a waste of time.
Independent legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing said she was very disappointed that Mr Goodlad did not give concrete answers to the questions asked.
''I don't think the atmosphere was good, and it seems to me that a lot of the council members thought that there was no point attending meetings like this one,'' she said.
''I asked him if he could recall any official of the British Foreign Office being boycotted by a colonial legislature,'' she said. ''And I said if he could not think of anyone, did he want to become the first one.'' When asked if she would boycott meetings held when the minister visited Hong Kong again, Ms Lau said that would depend on whether he would substantially respond to legislators' questions.
''If everybody thinks that there's no point having a meeting, I believe we just need to save our time,'' she said.
United Democrat legislator James To Kun-sun also wondered if legislators would be interested in attending future meetings with Mr Goodlad.
''Mr Goodlad's responses to our questions were not substantial,'' he said. ''He was just saying things which are the universal truth, just like your mother is a woman and your father is a man,'' he said.