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remark in Hong Kong that she would take up the point on her return and hoped that we would be able to have some encouraging news' for them. This disappointment would also certainly be aggravated if it became known that HMG did not intend to oppose Lord Bruce of Dongington's bill for British citizenship for those Falkland Islanders who do not at present qualify for it. The Governor of Hong Kong has recently reported that if the request is refused it might well be difficult to get through the necessary amendments to Hong Kong legislation consequential on the British Nationality Act. This illustrates the strength of feeling in Hong Kong.
There does not appear to be any dispute that the holders of all three new citizenships created by the BNA 1981 are British nationals in the sense that the UK Government are entitled to accord them consular protection when they travel abroad on passports issued to them. There can therefore be no legal objection to the inclusion in Hong Kong passports of the additional description 'British national'. This view is, I believe, shared by the Home Office and FCO Legal Advisers and also by the Attorney-General of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong authorities are fully aware of it. To the extent that an argument could be advanced that, aside from specific treaty commitments, a State must in the last resort permit entry of its 'nationals' into its territory, that argument would not, in the view of FCO Legal Advisers, be strengthened by the inclusion in Hong Kong passports of the additional description 'British national', the more particularly as it is intended that those Hong Kong passport-holders who do not have the right of abode in the UK would still have their passports endorsed on page 5: 'The holder is subject to control under the Immigration Act 1971'.
In all the circumstances, the right course might be to accede to the Hong Kong request. The gesture wo
be seen as a natural co quence of the Prime Minister's visit. It would be very difficult not to extend this change to British Dependent Territories citizens in er Dependencies and there might also be demands for 'British national' to be similarly included in the passports of British Overseas Citizens, British Protected Persons and other residuals. However, there is no current pressure for this and it is possible that any such pressure could be resisted, on the grounds that the circumstances in Hong Kong were clearly special.
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