DRAFT LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER
TO:
Mr L N Parker
19 King's Park Flats
8 King's Park Rise
Kowloon
Thank you for your letter of 16 November about British passports for the widows of Hong Kong servicemen who lost
their lives in the service of the Crown.
I well understand your feelings about the widows whose
husbands bravely served in the defence of Hong Kong during the
Second World War. Those men made a heroic contribution to
Hong Kong. This has not been forgotten by my Government.
We have carefully considered the question of British
citizenship for this small group of women. There is, however,
no provision in our nationality law to grant British
citizenship to a person who is not resident in the United
Kingdom. So we do not have the power to grant what they are
asking for. But British Ministers have given assurances that
these women can settle in the United Kingdom at any time and
apply for British citizenship in the normal way. We have also made sure that, if any of the war widows want to apply for entry clearance to the United Kingdom, their applications can
be processed quickly.