HKK 340|l
RECEIVED THE ZYSTY NO. 51
1 8 JUN 1981
his lobit claws. Theid hearty speed
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(290)
12 1 recognise the deeply held feelings in some of the territories concerned
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thePA the gignauld have given them more. It would, however, have been
Mas MCS 126 [Golf/2.
`difficult to devise a scheme for separate citizenships for all the
dependencies and invidious to single some out from all the others. For
that same reason, it would have been discriminatory to make some but not
others British citizens.
Our
13. I do, however, want to stress yet again that the Bill in no way alters
the United Kingdom's special relationship with her dependencies.
moral and constitutional ties with them, both individually and collective:
remain as strong as ever.
I turn now to the provisions for British Overseas citizenship This
is to be held by those citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who
become neither British citizens nor citizens of the British Dependent
Territories. Much has been said about the position of these people and
many unrealistic suggestions have been made. When all is said and done,
however, they have since 1968 been unable to enter either the United
Kingdom or an existing colony.
15. The Green Paper said, surely rightly, that "arrangements have to he made
for those people who are now itizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies
but who do not have such close ties with the United Kingdom as to become
British citizens.. To leave those of them who are citizens of the
with that status
United Kingdom and Colonies/when many of them have little or no connectic
by birth ancestry or residence with the United Kingdom or any Colony
would prolong a misleading and unsatisfactory feature of the present
situation."
what
Part III is doing no more than the Green Paper said had to
be done.
16. British Overseas citizens are only one of the transitional and residual
statwece in the Bill. We also have British subjects without citizenship,