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UK or British Nationals when a Minister has said in Parliament that
this is the case. We should now therefore consider the fall-back
position.
5.
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In Hong Kong Telegram Numbers 494 and 495 the Governor has described.
the present position of UMELCO on this issue. In anticipation of the
Home Secretary's reaction, he has suggested a fall-back position which
he believes to be the least that will satisfy UMELCO.This is a statement
in the House assuring CBDTS that they would continue to be British
Nationals and entitled to British protection plus an administrative
agreement that their British nationality be recorded in their passports.
(This was originally put forward as a possible compromise by the
Governor in paragraph 8 of Hong Kong Telegram Number 443). In Hong
Kong Telegram Number 495, the Governor has suggested that, if necessary,
an endorsement could be inserted in passports to qualify a nationality
status of 'British National' or 'UK National' by adding either:
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a)
'holder has the right of abode in Hong Kong'; or
b)
6.
'holder has no right of abode in the UK'.
This fall-back position should be acceptable to the Home Secretary
in that it would not lead to the difficulties he sets out in his
minute of 11 May. It would be quite clear that Hong Kong CBDTs had
no right of abode in the UK and that HMG therefore had no new obli-
gations to them in the event of an emergency.
to
7. NTD's view is that the proposal, whether brought into usage
through passport practice or introduced formally in the Bill,
superimpose a collective 'British (or UK) nationality' title linking
certain categories would repeat the error made in the BN Act 1948
from which we have been trying to escape for the last 20 years. The
problems set out in the Home Secretary's minute which its introduction
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