34
+
passionate circumstances.
The ladies concerned wish to stay in Hong Kong. There seems a quite insufficient case for taking exceptional measures on their behalf. It would be a highly undesirable precedent to set, making it far more difficult to resist pressure from other quarters.
Line to take
}
I
The Government has always made it clear that the 1990 Act was intended to cope with the unique circumstances of Hong Kong. Anybody not acquiring British citizenship under that legislation would fall to be dealt with under the 1981 Act and would be judged against the normal criteria. The wives and widows fail to qualify against the criterion of an acceptable period of residence in the UK. There are no compelling circumstances which would warrant this policy being overturned. The Government has agreed that the wives and widows may come to the UK with a view to settlement at any time, after which they may apply for naturalisation in the normal way. We cannot extend beyond the numbers already agreed, those who can become British citizens without first coming to the UK and fulfilling the residence requirements of the 1981 Act.
a
15