wh
Will the same rules that apply now to
registration with British consulates overseas
for British nationals apply also to BNOS?
The
- In current BDTC passports, note 7 on Dual
Nationality states that "British nationals who
are also nationals of another country cannot be
protected by Her Majesty's representatives
against the authorities of that country."
note further specifies "If under the law of
that country they are liable for any
obligations (such as military service), the
fact that they are British nationals does not
exempt them from it." In addition to military
service, to what other "obligations" might this
refer, and will note 7 apply to BNO passport
holders?
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong people, most of them
from the New Territories, are living and working in the UK and
Europe. They labour so as to earn enough money to support themselves and for remittances home to Hong Kong. They aim to
succeed, and they do succeed, by sheer hard work. They spurn
the welfare state and look down on the idea of free handouts,
believing only in reward for effort. Hence the UK, with its
chronic unemployment, strikes and shaky economy, need never
fear an influx of Hong Kong people, for whom prosperity and stability are a way of life. However, it is worth remembering
that many of the people who now find the UK door unceremoniously slammed in their faces are the very same people
who took pledges of loyalty on naturalization.
In the final analysis, perhaps it is as well that William Shakespeare should not be the one to immortalise the
BNO, for born as he was in Stratford, he would never have been obliged to hold such a passport.
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