TNAG-1385-FCO40-1833-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-citizenship-1985 — Page 260

AFT LETTER

CONFIDENTIAL FILE NUMBER ...NT.Y....8.5...1....3.8.7./.4..........

ADDRESSEE'S REFERENCE

S 536

TO

The Prime Minister

ENCLOSURES

COPIES TO BE SENT TO

Members of OD(K)

Mr Biffen

Mr Wakeham

Lord Denham

Sir Robert Armstrong

(FULL POSTAL ADDRESS)

(FULL ADDRESSES, IF NECESSARY)

The Home Secretary

LETTER DRAFTED FOR SIGNATURE BY

(NAME OF SIGNATORY)

I attach for your approval a draft White Paper on the nationality

provisions of the Hong Kong Act 1985.

The purpose of the White Paper is to introduce the first draft of an

Order in Council to implement the nationality arrangements of the

Sino-British Agreement on the future of Hong Kong. This draft is at

Annex 1 of the draft White Paper.

You will recall that during the debates on the Hong Kong Bill,

Parliament expressed some concern that a matter of such importance as

nationality was to be dealt with by Order in Council, thereby restrict-

ing opportunity both for Parliamentary debate and to seek amendments.

The Government therefore agreed to lay before Parliament a preliminary

draft Order (described as "an order with green edges") for full debate.

The Government undertook to consider points made during those debates,

and to see whether they called for any changes to be made to the draft

H.O. EST. 112

We

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Order in so far as these were consistent with the Hong Kong Act. The

draft Order would then subsequently be laid before Parliament again in

the usual way.

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It is the Government's intention that the Order should be made within a

year of the passing of the Hong Kong Act, that is to say by April 1986.

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