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CROMWY-ROBERTS'S MEETING WIEN ME GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG:
2 DECEMBER 1975
BRIEF NO. 8
NATIONALITY REVIEW
Line to Take
1.
The Governor has not yet seen Mr Hawley's letter and will not have time to study it properly before his meeting with Lord Goronwy-Roberts. The Minister may, however, like to draw on peragraph 7 below and to seek the Governor's first reactiour. seems very likely that he will stick to the view which he expressed earlier (see paragraph 5 below).
Background
2.
It
The present Government is committed to review the law on nationality with the aim of basing HMG's inmigration policies on citizenship.
3.
In suggesting this review, the Home Secretary cited the two main reasons why the current law should be amended. First, the nationality law is fregnentery and difficult to find since thene have been some 40 amending statutes to the British Nationality Act of 1948. Secondly, there is a case for restructuring our nationality law to eliminate the present lack of coherence between it and our immigration law: this is the cause of confusion and cab:rrassment both at home and overseas and is due largely to the existence of unitery citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC)
4.
A confidentiel working group was set up with the aeroen no of the Prime Minister under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Stren at the lione Office. (after consultation with Governors in April 1974 it was agreed that a public examination was not appropriato.) As en initial step, they considered that thoce OUROs with close ancestral connections with the United Kingdon should be given a new status as citizens of the United Kingdom. As a further stop, they asked for
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