TNAG-0980-FCO40-1199-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-British-nationality-1980 — Page 47

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to argue that historically they cannot avoid making this provision: for 'near' Crown Servants they find it difficult to justify treating them better than businessmen. To treat all near Crown Servants and businessmen in the same way as Crown Servants would create major administrative problems and would be unacceptable to the Home Office.

5. Present Home Office thinking is to take a power in the Act by which the Hóme Secretary could designate a particular category for inclusion under the businessmen's provision. The White Paper in fact foreshadowed this in part by referring to certain forms of employment with international bodies as analogous with employment with a business or certain other types of organisation based in the UK. I think that they might be prepared to put all the groups of near Crown Servants ?1 (with the possible exception of employees of colonial governments)

in the businessmen's category if we can find a satisfactory definition for them. They are convinced that they must keep the Crown Servants' provision strictly for Crown Servants. They fear that if there were any exceptions to this it might undermine the whole structure of transmission for special categories. But it is just possible that the definition of Crown Servant will cover the British Council because many of them feature on the staff lists of Diplomatic Missions.

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6. As you know we went over much of the ground before the White Paper was published. The room for maneouvre now is very limited.

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25 November 1980

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W Jónes

Nationality and Treaty Department