Mr Adams
Sir E Youde
Youd
CONFIDENTIAL
MR 20 Wi
Minister
NATIONALITY BILL: AMENDMENT ON GIBRALTAR: OTHER DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
Problem
1.
CONSEQUENCES FOR
What line should HMG take with the other Dependent Territories
if the amendment now before the House of Lords in Committee to allow
Gibraltarian Citizens of the British Dependent Territories
the right to register as British citizens is carried?
Recommendation
2.
CBDTs)
see/316
I recommend that Mr Luce should write to Mr Raison as In the
attached draft. NTD agree.
Background
3.
In the Commons the Government successfully resisted amendments
that would have brought Gibraltar and certain other dependencies
into British citizenship instead of CBDT. They also resisted an
amendment similar to that now before the Lords. They argued that
to discriminate between dependencies would cause deep resentment
amongst the others.
4.
The amendment now before the House of Lords in Committee
leaves Gibraltar in the scheme for CBDT but would give them the
right to register as British citizens if they wished because of
their membership of the EC. A vote is likely to be taken on this
on 21 or 22 July. It is impossible to predict the voting but
it is possible that the amendment will be carried. On the present
parliamentary timetable the amendment would not be considered by
the Lords in Report Stage until September/October and the Bill would
go back to the Commons after that.
CONFIDENTIAL
/Argument