TNAG-1085-FCO40-1335-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 196

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and I may say that the next abroad - that the future of this ty is 1. and to dajand.

I: Just say that one reason why my generation did not go abroad Was the difficulty created by my father's al sence abroad all the time. That is a great handicap that has to be conccone, but at the sime it is all the more improtant, to make it as easy as po de, pot

e dol,

e try to s their work!

j.

Lord M.-Lay of C! 9^ua: On the point zal d by my noble file.d Lord D.onallyn, far from having a fxation of the Lind Le describes, I am saying that people in that category will have no disadvantage at all. People who come back and stay on in this country will have no disadvantage at all cause, as I lave sought to point out, a British citizen by descent who then remains in this country and has childson Lure will of course have children who will be British citizens otherwise than by descent. So far as my noble friend Lady Elles is concerned, I well appreciate the dream of Scotland that so many of her family have. I only hope that it will be fully realised.

Baroness Files: I very much hope that my noble and leaned friend the Ind Advocate will look a Ee more closely at this amend: tent in the light of the comments that have been made during these past few minutes; that he will realise that now. days we live in a very mobile society; that because of unemploy- ment people are very willing to go to the Continent for a short period of time; and that people want to be able to take their families with them: they do not want to have to leave them at home in order to have children born in this country; they want to have them wherever they may be.

I very much hope that in view of this debate my noble and learned friend will be able to look at this amendment in a slightly more favourable light. I beg have to withdraw the amendment.

Artendiment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 13, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 14 [Acquisition by birth or adoption]: [Amendment No. 119 not moved.]

10.17 pan.

Lord Elwyn-Jones moved Amendment No. 119ZA: Page 15, line 4, at beginning insert-----

("() In this Part of the Act the expression a citizen of the British Dependent Territories" means a citizen of any one of the British Dependent Territories.

( ) A passport issued after commencement to a citizen of the British Dependent Territories shall designate the holder as a British (...) citizen, inserting within the parentheses the name of the dependency of which the person is a citizen."). The noble and learned Lord said: We now come--at

last, if I may say so to Part II of the Bill. During the debate on the Gibraltar issue I ventured to express the opinion that a generic citizenship of the dependent territories was meaningless. The largest of them all, Hong Kong-and I know that the noble Lord, Lord Geddes, is interested in this matter-has been parti- cularly concerned at what it feels to be a distancing of

Kng. So long as 11 ng

enjoy a common citizenship with each oth. r, do row, ev in the fact that this

w

Las been, in effect, split up by Pigation not taken away altogether the feding that the 1ited Kingdom is cor pitted to arguetion with the ple of Hong Kong, which is a f

ing of greet in pe take in view of the events 4 will occur by the ed of

cr, 1 ve iste mal w may now on the port of

er k

G. :

a result of th. II Ditish in the eyes of the world, ad the pople with whom the puple of Hong Kong 1 ve One Rt of the amendment which I now move would be to meet that anxiety by emphasising the British concetten in the name of the new citizenship

As your Lordships will see:

status.

** In dâs pat of the Act the expression “a citizen of the British Day at Turitories means a citizen of any one of the R-Rih Dependent Territories ".

So it is an attempt to identify a citizenship in coch particular territory; and, secondly:

A passport issued after commencement to a citizen of the British Dependent Territories shall designate the holler as a British-

I have mentioned Hong Kong--

..

"

(Hong Kong) citizen, inserting within the parentheses the name of the dependency of which the person is a citizen ". We make this proposal in order to emphasise the word British in this connection. A Gibraltarian would be called a British Gibraltar citizen ", although fter the success of the Gibraltar amendment today, that may no longer be necessary. Indeed, I should have non-leď my note in the light of that event.

Put a Brut Man citizen would be a British Burada citizen". That description would be clearly enough differentiated from the British citizenship description that will apply to most of us in this country, to ensure that no confusion results. At the same time, we feel that the use of this formula will assert the reality of the British connection in a way that the generalised citizen- ship of all the dependencies does not do. Although we believe that the name is in itself important, we are suggesting in this amendment an improvement that will provide that a particular status is attached to cach dependency in something more than name.

One of the drawbacks of generalised citizenship in the Bill is that it does not give holders of this category of citize ship rights in all dependencies. Clearly it does not do that. Furthermore, it does not give them clear rights in any one dependency. To achieve right of abode anywhere at all, holders will have to depend not on their citizenship but on the particular immigra- tion ordinances of the relevant dependent territory.

Lord Boyd-Carpenter: Quite right too.

Lord Elwyn-Jones: These ordinances vary enormously. Some citizens of the dependent territories will have no right of abode anywhere--not even in the territory where they were born. Clauses 15 to 24 make provision for the citizenship of the dependent territories being acquired in future, and to us these clauses appear to be almost incomprehensible. If we are not to have a truly common citizenship, which we shall not have in