TNAG-1567-FCO40-2132-Future-of-Hong-Kong-nationality-and-passports-Hong-Kong-(Br-1986 — Page 67

3.

The Government took the view that there were

drawbacks to allowing the Bill to pass because it could

create an exception to the principle in the BNA 1981

that British citizenship should be confined to those

with close connections with the UK. They were also

concerned that the Bill might well be seen as a

precedent, particularly by Hong Kong. But the Governmer

concluded that they should not actively oppose Baroness

Vickers' Bill which was likely to command widespread

support among Government supporters. It was therefore

agreed that while the implications for the overall

scheme of citizenship set out in the 1981 Act should be

made clear the Bill should not be opposed. Indeed the

Government decided that they should go further and

offer drafting assistance if the Bill was given a second

reading, only on the basis that the Bill remained

confined to Falkland Islanders citizenship and was not

widened to bring in anyone else.

4.

During the second reading debate Lord Elton made

these points quite plain. He stressed that the

Government believed that they had already in other wavs

taken very full account of the special needs of the

Falkland Islanders. In particular he reminded the House

of the commitment that no Falkland Islander would have

any difficulty over admission to the UK. He pointed

out that to give them British citizenship was not a

small step, but had significant implications for the

whole scheme of new citizenships created by the BNA 198

and to the extend that exceptions were made the position

would remain misleading and unsatisfactory. He there-

fore made it very clear that to make one category of

former citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies a

special case must not establish a misleading precedent.

Thus he said that he must make it plain that the

Government took the view that on immigration grounds

it was quite out of the question to alter the citizensh:

categories of either the other British Dependent

Territories citizens or of British Overseas citizens.

He went on to suggest that the special steps taken by