9. Over the years the 1948 Act has been amended about 40 times. There have been various reasons for this. A large number of Colonies have become independent and it has been necessary to withdraw citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies from people who acquired citizenship of the newly independent country but had not at the same time a close connection with the United Kingdom or a continuing Colony. Other amendments have been needed when countries, for example South Africa and Pakistan, have left the Commonwealth, to provide that although their nationals were henceforward foreigners in United Kingdom law they were to continue for a limited time to retain their eligibility to acquire our citizenship by registration as if they had continued to be Commonwealth citizens, rather than by naturalisation. Important amendments in the qualifications for acquiring citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies were made in the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and the Immigration Act 1971. Apart from these amendments there have been others, for example to meet the United Kingdom's obligations under international agreements. As a result of these numerous amendments British nationality law has become difficult to follow.
10. The most serious drawback to the status of citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies is that it does not provide a ready definition of who has the right of entry to the United Kingdom. In most other western countries, citizens and citizens only automatically have the right of entry. Under our system, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies may not have any close ties with the United Kingdom, or even with a remaining Colony. So, when successive Governments have found it necessary to control immigration from the Commonwealth, they have felt obliged to distinguish between the citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies whose close ties with the United Kingdom gave them a claim to be freely admitted here,