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My honourable Friend, the Member for Howden
the Member for Howden (Sir Paul Bryan) spoke
again with great knowledge and feeling about Hong Kong. I was glad
that he said that he realised that any concern there may be in Hong
Kong about this Bill is probably based on a misunderstanding of the
very real sense of commitment to Hong Kong that this Government feels.
I am glad to repeat this and to say again that nothing in this Bill
in any way lessens that commitment to Hong Kong or to any other
Dependent Territory.
My honourable Friend also mentioned undertakings given by my right
honourable Friend, the Minister of State, at Report Stage in this
place. I am happy to confirm once again that British Dependent
Territories' citizens
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as I hope we shall now agree to call them
will remain United Kingdom nationals in the sense that the United
Kingdom can afford consular protection and represent their interests
internationally. Of course we shall continue to do that and to do
everything possible to avoid difficulties for those citizens with
immigration officers in third countries.
My honourable Friend went on to seek assurances that this status
and these undertakings would continue to apply whether a Dependent
Territory remained in Schedule 6 or not. I should point out that
a Dependent Territory may only be removed from Schedule 6 by
Parliament.
If there were to be a change in the status of a dependency the
question of the national status in our law of people from that
/dependency