Neither
a search of the files nor a visit to Malaysia by a team from Scotland Yard, however,
produced sufficient evidence on which to proceed. Indeed, an official in the Library
and Records section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office reported in confidence
that the Colonial Office file on the Batang Kali incident had been destroyed under the
provisions of the Public Records Act 1958, since “it was apparently considered at the
time it was reviewed [probably in 1966] as not being worthy of permanent preservation”.