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[13 JULY 1981 ]
But a British citizen by descent who is working for the government of a dependency will normally be working in that dependency. His children will not be barred from acquiring local citizenship by virtue of their parents' occupation; they will normally be the British Dependent eligible for citizenship of Territories. If they are not, because neither the citizen parent nor his spouse are citizens of the British De- pendent Territories and they are not settled in the dependency, then under the provision of paragraph 2 of Schedule 2, the child would become a British citizen if he would otherwise be stateless.
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noble friend's mind at rest and he will feel able to withdraw the amendment.
Lord Gridley: I am grateful to my noble friend for I will read those reassurances on the points I made. everything he said with great care, and at this stage I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
4.57 p.m.
no risk of such children becoming stateless. As citizens of the British Dependent Territories they will have, under Clause 4 of the Bill, an entitlement to British citizenship after five years' residence in the country, which they may exercise at any time. But they will also have, as a general rule, important entitlements to British citizenship in other ways, not least by virtue of their parents' employment with the government of a dependency. A British citizen by descent working for the government of a dependency who has been re- cruited for that service in the United Kingdom will normally have been appointed by the Crown Agents or by the official representative in the United Kingdom of that government. His employment will therefore be relevant employment for the purposes of Clause 3(2) of the Bill and he will normally be able to secure on application for his child under British citizenship
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Lord Boyd-Carpenter moved Amendment No. 28.
Page 2, line 15, at end insert
(“() service in the employment of a public or private company registered in and operating partly or wholly in the United Kingdom.").
The noble Lord said: As the Committee will appre- ciate, the amendment seeks to raise the question of the discrimination in the Bill as it stands between the children of those who are born overseas to members of the Civil Service and children of those who are born overseas to other British people working abroad. There is no doubt that there is a clear differentiation in treatment between those --and these must be mainly those in the Foreign and Diplomatic Service who work for the Crown abroad --who get the advantages of Clause 2 procedures, and the rest, including those who represent great companies overseas, who get Clause 3 procedures.
Some of your Lordships may recall-though it is always a mistake in your Lordships' House to think that anyone remembers one's speeches except oneself— that I raised the reason for this discrimination on Second Reading and in particular intervened in the winding-up speech of my noble friend Lord Belstead on this point. The Minister gave a reason for this discrimination and I remind the Committee of what was said at that stage. I am reported as saying:
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My Lords, does not my noble friend accept, however, that there is a distinction between Clause 2 in respect of Crown servants abroad, where the entitlement is automatic, and Clause 3 in respect of businessmen abroad where they have to apply and where there is a measure of discretion in the Home Secretary?" My noble friend is reported as replying:
The Government believe it is important to make a distinction between those who are directly serving the interests of the country and are based here and those who are serving the interests of our dependencies and are based there. British citizens who are working for the governments of the dependencies will, if they were born here, be able to transmit their citizenship to their children automatically under Clause 2(1)(a) of the Bill. Those who are citizens by descent will normally have been able to secure British citizenship on appli- cation for their children born overseas under the provisions of Clause 3, and we shall do our best to ensure that the procedure for obtaining citizenship in this way is kept as simple and straightforward as The children of such people will often be possible. citizens of the British Dependent Territories by birth and will have an entitlement to British citizenship under Clause 4 of the Bill, provided they can meet the residence requirements, an entitlement they can exercise So we do not think that in practice at any time. children born to British citizens serving the govern- ments of the dependencies will find any difficulty in acquiring British citizenship
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My Lords, that is perfectly true. I agree entirely with my noble friend. But the reason for the discretion in Clause 3 is because the whole purpose of the Bill is to ensure that those who are continuing to transmit their citizenship shall retain links with the home country. That is the reason why the basis of the entitlement is set out absolutely clearly in Clause 3. So far as Crown servants are concerned, that is a different matter; and if for no other reason, because we know that Crown servants posted abroad will always return to live at home ".--[Official Report, 22/6, 81, cols. 950 and 951.]
Former members of the Colonial Service will have served under Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service when of course it was far more extensive than it is now. They would therefore be covered. I am advised, by Clause 2(1)(b) and their children would be citizens otherwise than by descent. They are not of course the same as employees of governments of the depen- dencies. I hope that thos· observations, and in parti- cular the last clarification I have given, will set my
HL 29 B2
The Official Report goes on, not altogether surprisingly, at that point to record: “Several Noble Lords: No!" Knowing from one's own personal acquaintances that quite a number of people one knows in the Foreign Service have in fact settled abroad, I tabled a Question to the Government to ask for the information on which my noble friend Lord Belstead's argument appears to have been based. I asked Her Majesty's Govern- ment how many former members of the Foreign and Diplomatic Service are non-resident in the United Kingdom, and my noble friend the Lord President of the Council, Lord Soames. replied:
"I regret to say that the information requested by my noble friend is not available “.
Therefore, it is apparent that the reason given by my noble friend Lord Belstead for this discrimination