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British Nationality Bill
27 OCTOBER 1981
"British Dependent Territories"-is a monstrous piece of English. The word "Territories" is a noun epithet qualifying "citizen". It is, as it were, like "barnyard” in "barnyard fowl". To come nearer to the subject before us, it is like "Pakistan" in "Pakistan citizen", which is the correct description of that type of national. To come nearer to my home, it is like "Ulster" in the expression "Ulster Protestant".
In none of those cases would we dream of referring to a "Pakistan's citizen", or "the Pakistan's citizen". We would not dream of saying a "barnyard's fowl", because we do not apply the mark of the genitive-and should not apply it to a noun that is being treated as an adjective. It is not a genitive but an adjective qualifying, in this case, the word "citizen?. Therefore, the apostrophe is entirely solecistic; and despite the reference to Cyprus--the home of "solecism"-that has been made in this short debate, the Home Secretary would not wish a solecism to find its way on to the statute book through his agency.
My remarks are serious in intent. If they were not, I would not have taken up the time of the House. We are creating a description for a class of people and we had better create one that is in decent, normal English. Therefore, I hope that the Home Secretary-who will not have to deal with this matter by way of amendment, or otherwise will discover, with the help of others, that between the conclusion of tonight's procedure and the Bill's eventual presentation for Royal Assent he can bring "Territories" into the status of a noun epithet by omitting the apostrophe.
Sir Albert Costain: Owing to the guillotine motion, we are coming to the end of our debate and I shall, therefore, make a one-minute speech. The amendment worries me, because it refers to Community treaties. If a Labour Government were ever foolish enough to take Britain out of the Common Market, what position would the Gibraltarians be in? Will they then have the right to British citizenship or will they go back to square one?
Mr. Tilley: I shall speak briefly on behalf of the Opposition Front Bench. In such a short debate I felt it right-in view of the impending guillotine-to allow hon. Members with greater expertise on the various territories to have time to speak. However, some of them have managed to display their expertise without mentioning the territories concerned.
On behalf of the Labour Party, I very much support the Government's decision. It will give a sense of security to Gibraltarians. To some extent that sense of security has been undermined, even since our last debate on this issue. Since then, the naval dockyard has been threatened with closure and various proposals have been put forward regarding Spain's accession to NATO. Some people in Madrid think that if Spain joins NATO it will have some of the rights over Gibraltar that it has long claimed. Therefore, it is even more necessary now than it was when we last debated and supported this idea, to give the people of Gibraltar extra security.
We welcome the Government's acceptance of the strong views expressed both in this Chamber and in the other place, as well as those expressed by the Gibraltarian and British publics. We certainly accept the extra gloss about citizenship by descent rather than by registration. I shall attempt to answer the question put by the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Sir A. Costain).
British Nationality Bill
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Although the next Labour Government will, within a few years, withdraw Britain from the Common Market, the Gibraltarians will act quickly once the Bill has been enacted. Most of their registration forms will be in within weeks and months and not within the year or so that it will take to elect a Labour Government.
Will the Secretary of State confirm that Gibraltarians will be able to register in Gibraltar and to go through all the processes there? Will he confirm that they will not have to come here to do that? The right hon. Gentleman's confirmation would be helpful. I pay tribute to the courage of those Conservative Members who have challenged their Whips successfully during the past few months. I remind them, the people of Gibraltar and other hon. Members, that their success was due not only to their courage but also to the solid support given by Labour Members since the idea was first mooted. We have always supported the right of Gibraltarians to acquire British citizenship.
I should like to take up the remarks made by the right hon. Member for Down, South (Mr. Powell). Every colony is different. Indeed, we made that point at the beginning. We do not like umbrella citizenship, because each colony is different. Therefore, we supported a separate form of citizenship for each colony. If that had been accepted, we would have moved to a system in which each colony-like Gibraltar-had a settlement suitable to its circumstances. Indeed, that will be done in the Bill that will replace this Act.
We support the Government's amendment and their gracious concession to Gibraltar. We hope similar settlements will be made for each colony, including the Falkland Islands, Hong Kong and the sovereign bases in Cyprus as part of our legislative contribution in the first Session when the next Labour Government come to power
The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. William Whitelaw): I shall seek to reply briefly to some of the important questions that have been raised. I found the remarks by the hon. Member for Liverpool, Edge Hill (Mr. Alton) surprising. We have bowed to the will of Parliament. We have bowed to the will of some of the hon. Gentleman's colleagues in another place. It is curious that he should castigate us for doing what his colleagues asked us to do. It is strange. I recognise that one of his colleagues did not ask us to do this but his behaviour is strange. We have done what Parliament thought that it wanted to be done. It is odd to be castigated for it.
Mr, Alton: The Home Secretary, more than most, is prepared to be conciliatory. I am grateful that he has accepted the amendment. He is mistaken if he feels that I was castigating him. I was saying that I wished that the same amendment applied to citizens in other colonies who feel just as strongly as Gibraltarians.
Mr. Whitelaw: That is what the hon. Gentleman's colleagues in another place tried to do.
My hon. Friends the Members for Essex, South-East (Sir B. Braine) and Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) mentioned the effect that the amendment will have on the Falkland Islands. Assurances have been given to that territory at various stages and they still stand. That is the best that I can say.
Sir Bernard Braine: Will my right hon. Friend explain the assurances?
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