TNAG-1333-FCO40-1765-Future-of-Hong-Kong-legislation-1985 — Page 213

CCi

201

LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

↓

HOME

HONG KONG LEGISLATION

MKD

29

PS Ps/Mr Lee

Sir P Cradock dr

Cegal Advises

The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary sent me a copy of his minute to you of

(16/10

8 October about the legislation needed next Session for Hong Kong. I am glad to see that he accepts, albeit with understandable misgivings, the arguments for including in the Bill some provisions reflecting the changes that need to be made in the law governing British nationality. I recognise that these provisions may well attract Parliamentary interest, but I suspect that equal Parliamentary interest, and perhaps greater controversy, might result if the Bill contained no such provisions. I hope that we shall be able to leave the bulk of the consequential amendments to the 1981 Nationality Act to a subsequent Order in Council, and Home Office legal advisers will be discussing urgently with their colleagues how this might best be done. But in my view Parliament might well expect at least a very limited number of the most important provisions to be included in the Bill, and I am therefore inclined in favour of doing so.

Discussions which my officials have recently had with the Director of Immigration in Hong Kong have confirmed the view, expressed in paragraph 9 of the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary's minute, that new legislative provisions must be in place before 1987 if the Governor is to continue to issue passports which have the normal ten year validity and which must therefore reflect the changed position after July 1997. I agree also with the comment in paragraph 10 of the minute that a second Hong Kong Bill would not be attractive. It would create difficulties for you and the other business managers, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary in reopenining arguments about Hong Kong, and for me in reopening arguments about the British Nationality Act.

Moreover, I am by no means sure that if it proved impossible to include the necessary provisions in the main Hong Kong Bill, we could justify a place for a separate second Bill in the legislative programme in the following Session. Such a Bill might well have to wait until the next Parliament, notwithstanding the undesirable consequences this would have for those now holding BDTC passports which would fall to be renewed after 1987.

If, as I hope, this Session's Bill contains provisions regarding nationality we can, of course, arrange for a Home Office Ministers to be available to assist FCO colleagues in both Houses.

I am copying this minute to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, the Lord Privy Seal and the Attorney General.

;

HKK 040/53

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

23 OCT 1984

L.B.

DESK OFFICER INDEX

PA

REGISTRY

Action Taken

ко

16

October 1984