with the passage of time) after five years ordinary residence here. It also for he first time extends such a right to certain British subjects and to British protected persons.
6. Since the introduction of the Bill, representations have been made to the Government by the dependencies about the effect of the Bill on them. There has been a strong feeling that the special position of the dependencies should be recognised.
7.
The Government have responded to these representations by tabling new clause 9. The purpose of that new clause is to enable citizens of the British Dependent Territories, British Overseas citizens, British subjects under the Bill and British protected persons to be registered as of right as British citizens after completing five years' residence in the United Kingdom. This is not a transitional provision like clause 7. Indeed the right to register in this way will continue indefinitely after commencement. The Government feels it right that the special position of the holders of the other citizenships and statuses which include the word "British" should be recognised in this way.
8. I should add for completeness, although it is not relevant to clause 7, that new clause 9 would also enable the Secretary of State, if he thinks fit in the special circumstances of a particular case, to register as a British citizen, any citizen of the British Dependent Territories, British Overseas citizen, British subject or British protected person who has at any time served in Crown or closely related service under the government of a dependent territory. The intention here is to recognise the position of those who serve the Crown in the dependencies in a particularly deserving way. The power to register will be used only sparingly.
9.
Returning to clause 7, I should like to say that in almost all cases people who would qualify for registration under clause 7 would also qualify under new clause 9. This is why we do not wish clause 7 any more to stand part of the Bill.
10.
I accept that cases can be cited where someone would qualify under clause 7 but not under the new clause. These are the cases where someone settled before commencement might subsequently complete 5 years ordinary residence but not meet the requirements of the new clause, which is based not on ordinary residence but on actual presence in this country for five years, subject to specified periods of absence.
11. These cases will be rare and do not seem to the Government to justify two clauses covering the same ground running side by side. But I do now undertake that /cases not meeting the new clause's residence requirements but which would have
transitional
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