TNAG-1086-FCO40-1336-Implications-for-Hong-Kong-of-changes-in-the-British-nationa-1981 — Page 61

UNDERTAKINGS REQUESTED BY SIR PAUL BRYAN

My honourable Friend, the member for Howden (Sir Paul Bryan) spoke again

with great knowledge and feeling about Hong Kong. I was glad that he said

that he realised that any concern there may be in Hong Kong about this Bill

is probably based on a misunderstanding of the very real sense of commitment

to Hong Kong that this Government feels. I am glad to repeat this and to say

again that nothing in this Bill in any way lessens that commitment to Hong Kong

or to any other dependent territory.

My honourable Friend has mentioned undertakings given by my right honourable

Friend the Minister of State at Report stage in this place. I am happy to

confirm once again that British Dependent Territories' citizens as I hope we

shall now agree to call them will remain United Kingdom nationals in the

sense that the United Kingdom can afford consular protection and represent

their interests internationally. Of course we shall continue to do that and

to do everything possible to avoid difficulties for those citizens with

immigration officers in third countries.

My honourable Friend went on to seek assurances that this status and these

undertakings would continue to apply whether a dependent territory remained in Schedule 6 or not. I should point out that a dependent territory may only

be removed from Schedule 6 by Parliament if there were to be a change in the

status of a dependency, the question of the national status in our law of

people from that dependency would therefore be for Parliament to decide,

taking into account all the circumstances. It would be pointless and

unhelpful to speculate further/

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