TNAG-0979-FCO40-1198-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1980 — Page 118

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continue under a new nationality act with their present

fifth. titl

It is also agreed that the rtir category should be sub-divided so that the UK belongers amongst them have their own citizenship which can form the basis of UK immigration laws in future. It is also agreed that the title 'British Subject' used in present UK nationality legislation as a synonym for Commonwealth Citizen$ (and appear in passports as a prefix to the citizenship status) should be abandoned in that meaning but that the title 'Commonwealth Citizens' (meaning a citizen of any independent Commonwealth country) should

be retained.

The Green Paper on nationality published in 1977 and the first draft scheme of a new Act envisaged a two-category citizenship scheme to replace CUKC: a 'British Citizen-

ship' for UK-belongers and a British Overseas Citizen-

ship for belongers of existing colonies and those citi-

zens who had no right of abode in the UK or an existing dependency. This provoked strong criticism from the

major dependencies. They did not like a citizenship different from that of UK-belongers and they particular- ly disliked being put into a separate citizenship category shared with those CUKCs who had no right of abod in either the UK or an existing dependency. Following these representations, it was agreed at

official level between Home Office and FCO to recommend

to Ministers that the CUKC category should be divided into 3 categories: British Citizens (for UK-belongers). British Overseas Citizens (for those who had no right of abode in a British territory), and a separate cate-

gory for colonial belongers, the title for which is

still under consideration.

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It is agreed by HO/FCO officials that there should not be separate citizenship for each individual dependency, since that could cause serious political problems with

China over Hong Kong, Spain over Gibraltar and Argentina

over the Falkland Islands. There must therefore be a

single collective title for use in the Act to describe

all colonial-belongers. It is also agreed that the title that comes closest to describing this category with

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