§ MR. SHACKLETON (Lancashire, Clitheroe)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been drawn to the question of naturalisation fees paid by workmen coming into this country; whether he is aware that the present fee is £5; and, considering the low rate of wages generally earned by this class of people, whether he can see his way to reduce the present naturalisation fee to £2 instead of £5.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) The question of the amount of the fee which ought to be charged for naturalisation certificates has been frequently reviewed by myself and my predecessors, but the conclusion reached has always been that the present fee of: £5 is a proper one, and that no sufficient ground (e.g., that it operates to prevent desirable persons from obtaining the; privileges of British nationality) has been shown for reducing it. I am not in possession of any facts which would lead me to alter that view.