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| 22 JULY 1981 ]
problem of Hong Kong. Surely what is happening is that it is the special case of Hong Kong which is determining the attitude of the Government in this Bill to Gibraltar and the other dependencies. I feel that there is every reason to trea. Gibraltar as a special case. As has already been pointed out, it is treated as a special case already, and therefore I would strongly urge the Committee to support this amendment.
Baroness Trumpington: I find the term “second-class citizenship" to be somewhat offensive and, as I see it, inaccurate. My instincts were to go along with this amendment but the reference made by the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, to second-class citizenship has reinforced the other side of the argument as put forward by my noble friend Lord Soames on behalf of the Government. Once that term has been used in the context of Gibraltar, it will certainly be regarded as such by the other depen- dent territories.
I do not regard the provisions made in this Bill to be unreasonable since provision is made, and is clearly made, for those people who wish to be citizens of this country by actually living here, by actually having personal ties with this country, and by actually playing a day-to-day role in the life of this country. This is a most emotional issue and one's sympathies are naturally with what one might describe as the few ". It is such an emotional issue that even the heavens are weeping, but I hope that this amendment will not be pressed and will in due course be withdrawn.
3.52 p.m.
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Viscount Boyd of Merton: I rise to make, if possible, a short intervention in favour of the amendment. I listened with great care and interest to what my noble friend Lord Soames said in reply to my noble friend Lord Bethell and to the noble Lord, Lord Hughes. The noble Lord, Lord Soames, and I once shared in another place the representation of the county of Bedford in Parliament. It therefore is rather difficult for me to take a view alien to that held by him.
He has made, as we could have expected, a reasonable and logical speech. Of course, it is a tidy way to deal with the nationality status of dependent territories to create what the Home Secretary called, A coherent and logical system of citizenship for British depen- dencies". But often in life a tidy solution is not necessarily the wise one, and this can be especially true when dealing with a very small population living under siege conditions, for a blockade is a siege, and who have cherished for nearly three centuries their shared nationality status with the United Kingdom.
The Committee can be in no doubt about the strength of feeling in Gibraltar. Strong feelings are also felt here at home, as witnessed in another place where the vote in the Standing Committee on a similar clause was defeated by only the chairman's casting vote. On the Report stage - I was renowned in the other place for a loud voice; it is being put to the test now. I hope the heavenly forces are on my side. In another place 521 Members of the House took part in the vote, and the amendment in similar terms was only defeated by a majority of 25.
The Home Secretary argued that the Government decisions on the status of Gibraltarians had nothing
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whatever to do with Spain or the Spanish attitude to Gibraltar. Of course, I believe fully anything and everything that the Home Secretary says, and I am not tempted to say seriously, "Tell that one to the marines but it is certainly not an accepted view in Gibraltar itself. Gibraltarians on the Rock know that the defeat of the amendment in the House of Commons was interpreted immediately in the Spanish press within the wider political context of Spain's claim to Gibraltar.
Of course, I recognise that some difficulties will arise for the Government if this amendment is carried. But the status of Gibraltar can be said to be quite unique, and has been so described by successive Governments. Indeed, we have recognised this, as other noble Lords have pointed out, by their status as Community nationals by virtue of the Treaty of Rome. No other dependent territory has the same concession, and to include the people of Gibraltar in the category of British citizen would not be an act of deliberate discrimination but would arise, as the Prime Minister of Gibraltar himself said, as a natural consequence de- riving from the particular circumstances in Gibraltar. I very much hope that this amendment will be pressed to a Division and will win the vote.
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Lord Home of the Hirsel: If the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, wants evidence that this is a non-party matter he is shortly going to find it. I do not believe that I ship have disagreed even in a shade of opinion with my
vote noble friend Lord Boyd of Merton in our political our lives in over 50 years, but this afternoon the position of the Gibraltarians-and this has been confirmed by Ꮮ what my noble friend the Leader of the House said this afternoon-it is that they have an absolute right of entry into this country.
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That was confirmed I think first by the noble Lord, acce Lord Thomson of Monifieth, in the socialist Govern- loya ment of the day. That still stands. Now, under who Clause 4 of this Bill-and I shall be corrected if I am terr wrong they have an absolute entitlement to citizen- the ship and abode if they reside here for five years after Gib entry. Therefore, this is a non-party matter.
One peop side conceded the entry; another is now attempting the to give them the right of citizenship with the right of Neit abode.
I wi
If I were a Gibraltarian, I would rather have that Kon assurance from the British Government-and it is betw inconceivable that any British Government would are go back on those assurance-than the general cover in th provided by the Treaty of Rome. I would far rather and have that, and feel much more reassured by it. Al- coul though we are debating it in the context of this Bill, woul this is not a new matter. At the time when Lord and Thomson of Monifieth was negotiating, Gibraltar in th had stated a claim to be integrated economically, Hon politically and socially into the United Kingdom. in th They have done that before, and they have done it the since. It is, so to speak, a standing claim.
West
For a number of reasons no British Government in of H the past 25 years have been able to concede such a and status, and some of them were stated by my noble beco friend the Leader of the House. It is not that any In ge British Government, or indeed any Parliament in this count country, have doubted the loyalty of the Gibraltarians mme to the Crown, or the service given in war, to which the
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