"My hon. Friend the Member for Howden (Sir Paul Bryan) referred to the feeling of discrimination felt by Hong Kong citizens. Again I am in difficulty. I am sure that Mr Speaker would prefer it if I wrote in detail to my hon. Friend setting out the exact position as we now see it.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Mr Whitelaw wrote to Sir Paul Bryan at the end of October:
reiterating that the British Nationality Bill did not affect HMG's relationship with Hong Kong or the strength of the Government's support for that or any other dependent territory;
confirming again that British dependent territories citizens would remain United Kingdom Nationals in the sense that the UK would afford Consular protection and represent their interests internationally;
stating, in relation to Sir Paul's request in paragraph 2(b) above, that he could not make any definite forecast about a hypothetical situation, particularly one which was very remote and particularly since no clear analogy could be drawn between Hong Kong and other dependent territories which in the past had ceased to be dependencies; and
pointing out that, if there were to be a change in the status of a dependency, the question of the national status in UK law of people from that territory would be for Parliament to decide, taking account of the circumstances, and that a dependent territory may only be removed from Schedule 6 by a decision of Parliament.
B 6
The full text of Mr Whitelaw's written reply is at Annex B.
G.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL