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CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL
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REGISTRY Action Taken
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NATIONALITY BILL: HONG KONG
This is to bring you up-to-date on developments in Parliament and elsewhere.
1.
2.
(398)+(400,
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You will have seen the exchange of/telegrams between the Governor and the Lord Privy Seal on 9 October with Mr Atkins' advice that Hong Kong Unofficials should be steered away from support for Lord Geddes' amendement though without giving the impression that HMG could deliver any substitute. The Governor explained the position to Unofficials who did refrain from lobbying the Lords in general but sent a telegram of support to Lord Geddes of which he made use during the Debate on 13 October.
3. In the Lords yesterday most speakers on both sides of the House supported Lord Geddes. Lord Trefgarne in opposing the amendment concentrated on the imprecision which would arise from the use of the term 'national' and the immigration impli- cations (he put the emphasis here on British Overseas Citizens rather than people from Hong Kong). He included a very firm passage reiterating HMG's support for Hong Kong.
4. The amendment was defeated but only by 105 to 102. According to Mr Ford, Lord Geddes is now putting down an alternative amendment for consideration at the Third Reading on 20 October proposing the substitution of 'British Dependent Territories Citizen' for CBDT. This will probably be tabled tomorrow.
5.
397A
Meanwhile, we await a reply to the further minute which Mr Atkins sent to Mr Whitelaw on 9 October urging that contingency planning should be undertaken for a fall-back clause to be intro- duced if we look likely to lose on the Gibraltar amendment in the attachoo attached Commons. Further soundings with Home Office officials indicate
that we are likely again to get a dusty answer.
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6. Lord Geddes' amendment nevertheless should make it easier to argue with the Home Office that HMG should adopt a consiliatory line. The arguments advanced by the Government against the 'British National' amendment yesterday were widely criticised in the House as lacking in substance. Peers were unimpressed by the argument that it would lead to greater imprecision and to the risk of higher immigration. It would be much more difficult to produce convincing arguments against the 'British Dependent Territories Citizen' amendment. We might therefore be able to persuade the Home Office not to oppose the amendment though it is very doubtful whether they would be prepared to go on from there to concede Hong Kong's further aim of 'British Hong Kong Citizen'.
CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL
17.