TNAG-1086-FCO40-1336-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 139

British Nationality

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Lord Denham:"My Lords, it may be for the conven. ience of the House if I announce that dinner will be available today at the usual time. The House will adjourn for astrort period at approximately-seven o'clock this evening...

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Committee of Selection PG23/1

The Chairman of Committees (Lord Aberdare): My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.

Moved, on behalf of the Committee of Selection, that the Baroness Young he added to the following Select Committees of the House in the place of the Lord Soames:

Committee of Selection,

Procedure of the House,

House of Lords' Offices, Privileges. (Lord Aberdare. On Question, Motion agreed to.

Broadcasting Bill [H.L.]—Report

Report received.

British Nationality Bill

2.58 p.m.

Further considered on Report.

VOL 424 NO. 133.

DATE

13·19-81 cow. 261-278

Lord Geddes moved Amendment No. 117A: After Clause 36, insert the following new clause:

("Status of British National

Every person who under this Act is a British Citizen a Citizen of the British Dependent Territories of a British Overseas Citizen shall have the status of a British Nationel. ") The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving this amendment I should like to stress particularly to my noble friends on the Front Bench that in my endeavour to differentiate between citizenship status and nationality status the amendment is not designed in any way to wreck the Bill or indeed alter it in any way other than to underline the Britishness of each category of citizen- ship. Existing passports for those who after commence- ment will become British citizens or British dependent territories' citizens (and I may need to revert to that particular form of words on another occasion) or British overseas citizens, all have on page 1 the heading

· National Status ".

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The United Kingdom British passport presently says against that heading of "National Status British subject, citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies ". After commencement it will presumably say British Citizen ". So far as that person is concerned there should be no doubt or problem as to the nationality. But what about the holder of, say, a Hong Kong British passport? At the moment he or she is all right as against the heading of "National Status his or her passport also reads " British subject, citizen

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of the United Kingdom and Colonies". commencement, what will happen? How will that person's passport read? Will it read: "Citizen of the British Dependent Territories? If so, what does that mean in nationality terms? I suggest a question that is even more relevant: what will a third country's immigration officer think it means? Those two are not necessarily the same thing.

This question has been raised a number of times during earlier stages: what does that person put in the box marked "nationality" when going into another country? I am sure your Lordships know as well as I do that these immigration forms get smaller by the day and the box where you write in the nationality is absolutely minute. If that person has to put in something along the lines of "Citizen of the British. Dependent Territories", I suggest he is going to be something of a magician as far as graphical writing is concerned.

This whole question of the status-I again emphasise the word status "—of nationality is one that has not been defined within the Bill as it presently stands: hence this particular amendment. I have certainly not taken a close look at the wording on every single national passport; but on a Netherlands passport it clearly says on page 1-and in each instance I quote the words verbatim--“ Nationality Netherlands". On a United States passport it says, " National of the United States". On a Greek passport it states, not only in Greek but in French, Nationalité hellenique ". On a French pass- port it states, Nationalité francaise ". On a West German passport it has the interesting words:

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The bearer of this passport is German ”.

I stress that this amendment is an attempt to em- brace all three categories of citizenship as presently defined in this Bill. Again I stress that the problem is one of national status, not of citizenship, not of the right of entry or the right of abode in the United Kingdom. It is solely a question of national status for international purposes.

Your Lordships will be aware that I personally have a close affinity with Hong Kong, and again I make no apologies for instancing Hong Kong because in nu- merical terms alone it represents some 80 per cent. of those citizens who will be encompassed within the British Dependent Territories. In this context, I received yesterday a telegram from the senior un- official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. I should explain to your Lordships, for the benefit of those who are not aware of it, that the two Councils of Hong Kong, the Executive and Legis- lative Councils, are made up of “official and, in their terminology, "unofficial" members, the dif ferentiation being that " official means a govern- ment servant and “ unofficial" means a representative of the people of Hong Kong. If the House will allow me, I should like to quote verbatim from the tele- gram, which was signed by Mr. S. Y. Chung, the senior unofficial member. It reads:

"As the senior unofficial member of the Hong Kong Executive Council I have been asked by all unofficial members of both the Executive and Legislative Councils of Hong Kong to express our strong support for your amendment which would place it beyond doubt that citizens of British Dependent Territories remain British nationals.

One of our main concerns from the beginning has been that the British connection and status of citizens of the United Kingdom

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