D12
HONG KONG ORDER IN COUNCIL
BRIEFING NOTE
GIBRALTAR
COMPARISON BETWEEN GIBRALTAR AND HONG KONG
LINE TO TAKE
1.
Under the British
Not appropriate to draw a comparison.
Nationality Act 1981 Gibraltarians became British Dependent Territories
citizens on 1 January 1983.
2. As the House will recall, the provision in the 1981 Act which
gives Gibraltarians an absolute entitlement to registration as British
citizens was the result of an amendment moved in this House.
It was
argued by the supporters of the amendment that Gibraltarians were already
United Kingdom nationals for European Community purposes and that not to
give them this benefit would perpetuate an anomalous division between
British members of the European community.
3.
During the course of the debates the Government made plain the
implications for other dependent territories of singling out the
Gibraltarians in this way. The Nationality Bill did not affect Gibraltar':
position as part of the European Community, nor was there any question
of the immigration arrangements under which Gibraltarians could come here
quite freely being in any way affected by the Bill.
4.
However, a number of Noble Lords argued that there was a clear
distinction to be drawn between Gibraltarians and other British Dependent
Territories citizens, in particular Hong Kong. The Gibraltarians were
already United Kingdom nationals for European Community purposes and had
rights of movement, travel and work in the European Community area which
other dependent territories citizens did not have. The provision proposed
for the Gibraltarians was not therefore seen as a precedent for other
dependent territories, because unlike the Gibraltarians they did not
already have any rights to enter and work in this country.