TNAG-0901-FCO40-1111-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1979 — Page 44

GNN 340/34

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HKK 340/1.

19 JUL 1979

38

With

NATIONALITY BILL

PROBLEM

No

J24.7

M2

To reply to a letter from the Private Secretary to the Home Secretary of 5 July seeking the Secretary of State's views on a paper which Mr Whitelaw wishes to circulate to the Home Affairs. Committee on 17 or 24 July. The paper includes a number of proposals which we cannot endorse in their present form. We therefore need to persuade the Home Secretary to delay the circulation of his paper to allow time for the outstanding differences to be resolved. The Secretary of State's support will be necessary if the Home Office are to be moved on the main issue in dispute, the proposal to peo

create a new British Overseas Citizenship.

RECOMMENDATION

2. I recommend that the Private Secretary should reply

to Mr Butler on the lines of the attached draft.

BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT

3.

There are a number of areas of disagreement between the FCO and the Home Office over the proposed legislation which clearly fall within the FCO's sphere of interest. These include:-

i)

the status of dependency; belongers (British Overseas Citizens, in the proposed legislation);

ii)

iii)

the abandonment of British Subject status;

the implications of limiting transmission of citizenship by descent to one generation only;

/iv)

CONFIDENTIAL