e should in effect be handing wer to the dependencies the arrangements of their citizenship, and this is fundamentally incompatible with their status and other obligations.
It would alls tend to increase the number of
people who are excinded by the dependent.
a
13. Now I accept the right hon Gentleman does not wish to go down that part. I understand him, he wants there to be separate citizenships within a common framework decided by Parliament at Westminster. But as I have said, this would Tume that
not dependency confer the right of abode on those who held citizenship of the dependency concerned. Indeed it might well make some of them all the more reluctant to extend it beyond its present limits, Since they would reset having
Sepat
a citizenship over which they had no control could encourage them to seek to
Sexercise combol over it.
14. This is surely the basic weakness of the notion of separate citizenships for the dependencies. Separate citizenships imply that the dependencies control the terms of access to them. But we cannot in fact allow the dependencies to decide for themselves who shall and who shall not be their citizens. They are not Sovereign states and it is for Farliement at Westminster to decide these matters, not the individual legislatures comparable bodies in the dependencies.of.
>
15. But a separate citizenship for each dependency would be very difficult to reconcile with this notion. It will be asked that if this does not reflect a new and more independent status for the dependencies what is its purpose. If the dependencies have a separate citizenship, why do they not have the power to regulate it? These are peinl grounds for uncertainty doubt and suspicion, end we are after all trying in the Bill to devise a clearer system of citizenship, not one which breeds confusion!
powerful
16.
To sum up, therefore we continue to believe that a collective citizenship of the British Dependent Territories is the only option that makes sense. Separate citizenships are not wanted by all dependencies nor would they be
different from not to Ek would
In
others
feasible for all dependencies, To Fresh one ofpendences diffa cause great resentment, the only dependency that has shown any eel intercet ina
separate citizenship des text really went its it vents British citizenship which
Cont
d]
we are not peptied to accord. We do not think that, in practice, the fact that citizenship of the British Dependent Territories does not automatically carry with it the right of abode in a dependency will cause any significant problems. Any difficulties which there may be in this respect are likely to be intensified rather than lessened by the creation of separate citieenships, unless we were
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