Clause 4.—(CITIZENSHIP.) (Hansard, 19 July 1960)

§ Mr. Norman Pannell (Liverpool, Kirkdale)
I rise merely to seek clarification of one aspect of this very complicated Clause. During the Second Reading debate, my right hon. Friend said: Cypriots now established in this country will continue to enjoy citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, and that citizenship will continue whether or not Cyprus remains in the Commonwealth. My hon. Friend the Member for Worcestershire, South (Sir P. Agnew) thereupon asked: Can my right hon. Friend give an assurance that the legislation we pass in this Parliament will effectively provide against Cypriot citizens resident in England being accorded British citizenship in any circumstances in which they may be accorded Cyprus citizenship by the Cyprus Government? So far as we are concerned, they may hold only one citizenship. Can he assure us on that point? My right hon. Friend replied: I think that that is the position."—10FricIAL REPORT, 14th July, 1960; Vol. 626, c. 1620.] Surely by Act of Parliament we cannot deprive the Cypriots in this country of their Cypriot nationality which they enjoy 426 in addition to their citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies. Only the Cypriot Government could deprive the Cypriots in this country of that citizenship, and if, should they elect to leave the Commonwealth, the Cyprus Government refrain from depriving the Cypriots in this country of citizenship they will therefore continue to enjoy dual citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies and Cyprus whereas British residents in Cyprus will become aliens in that country.

§ Mr. Stonehouse
May we also have a little clarification on a point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Swindon (Mr. F. Noel-Baker) during the speech of the Colonial Secretary on the Second Reading debate? My hon. Friend raised the very interesting question—I think the Colonial Secretary called it the fascinating question—about the possibility of women going into the sovereign areas to have their children, so enabling them to have British citizenship. The right hon. Gentleman said that he would have the point dealt with in the winding up speech by the Under-Secretary of State, but we did not have the benefit of that clarification. I am wondering whether we could have it on this occasion.
The other question I wish to raise is about the position under the British Nationality Act of Cyprus Government servants who have been employed in Cyprus and who have not lived in the United Kingdom. May I ask whether Section 6 (1,b) of the British Nationality Act, 1948, would apply to these servants? Will they have an opportunity, if they so elect, to apply for British citzenship?
I should also like to have clarification of Clause 4 (3,b) of the Bill. Why is the period of 2½ years used in this subsection? What is the significance of that period?

§ Mr. Callaghan
I should like to ask the Under-Secretary a question. I have had a letter today from a former resident of the United Kingdom who is now resident in Cyprus. He says that there is provision in the Agreement protecting fully the rights of free exit from and entry into Cyprus, that there are facilities for transferring money, property ownership, and so on, for British citizens of United Kingdom origin living in Cyprus. But, he says, similar protection has not been provided for two British citizens 427 resident in Cyprus who went to Cyprus during the last few years and are British citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, though not of United Kingdom origin.
I will give the Under-Secretary an opportunity of getting the answer to that question. This is one of the complications that one gets when we have an Agreement that is tied down so exactly. There can be very few of these people. But my correspondent is right. Why should he not be in the same position as I should have thought, in logic, a British citizen of United Kingdom origin? If he lived in this country he would be. He admittedly did not start in this country, but he did not come from Cyprus. He came from somewhere else. He becomes a British citizen. He goes to Cyprus. We have made very full provision for the protection of the rights of United Kingdom citizens who go to Cyprus. We have said that they can transfer their money and capital in and out. They can have free exits there and entry into Cyprus. They can transfer property. But we seem to have left out this little group. Perhaps it has not occurred to anybody yet.
In the case of a man who was not horn in this country and was not born in Cyprus, but who has lived in this country and has made his home in Cyprus, where does he fall? He is not a Cypriot. Under this Agreement as I have read it—it is complicated, but I think I understand it—he is not a Cypriot nor is he going to be treated as a British citizen of United Kingdom origin. Could the Under-Secretary give an indication—I have intentionally spun out my remarks so that he might have an opportunity to get the information—where this man falls, and what his rights will be?

§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. David Renton)
Perhaps it may be of help to the Committee generally if I explain the background, which will help provide the answer to each of the questions which have been put to me.
Although it is tempting to go back co the Treaty of Berlin of 1878, I think I can conveniently start with the British Nationality Act, 1948, passed when the party opposite was in power. Under that Act there is an arrangement 428 whereby every person who was formerly a British subject—that is, living in a country of the Commonwealth or in the United Kingdom or in any of our Colonies—with a few exceptions, as there always are in these nationality matters, acquires a general status and a special status.
The general status is that of a British subject or Commonwealth citizen, according to choice, in the country in which the person happens to be; but I must say that in law they mean exactly the same thing. But in order to take that general status, the citizen must acquire a special status. In the case of people of Cyprus the special status which they acquire by virtue of the British Nationality Act, 1948, is citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
That is the citizenship they now have. It is also the citizenship which they will continue to have unless, as a result of the Treaty or of the provisions of an Order in Council made under Clause 4, they have that citizenship taken away from them. But they will mostly not have that citizenship taken away from them unless, as a result of the Treaty also—and perhaps I should add there will no doubt be a law passed by the new Republic of Cyprus to implement it and give it administrative detail—those people acquire a new status, namely the status of citizen of the Republic of Cyprus.
Now, therefore, I come conveniently to the first question put to me by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Kirkdale (Mr. N. Pannell), concerning the position of Cypriots in the United Kingdom, whom we loosely call Cypriots. In fact, they are all citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. The position is that a very large number of them will acquire what, in the first place, will be dual citizenship. They will be entitled to retain their citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies by virtue of their residence here at the time of independence, but many of them will also automatically acquire a new special citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus, because they are people who are ordinarily resident in Cyprus. Therefore, the point on which my hon. Friend requires assurance is one on which I can easily give him that assurance—that those people will not lose their citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
The point I wanted to make was that Cypriots in this country will continue to enjoy United Kingdom citizenship as well as Cyprus citizenship in many cases, whereas Britishers in Cyprus will be declared aliens if Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. Renton
There are safeguards which, in that event, will enable some people, not everybody, to remain citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies—therefore British subjects and Commonwealth citizens—even if Cyprus should leave the Commonwealth. The matter is somewhat complicated. I could go into all the detail of it, and if my hon. Friend presses me, I will. Perhaps he would be content with an assurance from me that, at any rate, these classes of persons will be in the position he would wish, that is those who are referred to in Section 3 of Annex D, and more particularly in paragraph 2, sub-paragraphs (a) to (e) of that Section, which is to be found on Page 70 of the White Paper.
Secondly—this arises by virtue of the British Nationality Act and it is not necessary for us to make any special provision about it—I understand that those people who have resided in the United Kingdom for twelve months or who are in the service of the Crown anywhere in the world, or are in the service of such British employers as the Home Secretary under the 1958 Act certifies as being suitable for recognition for this status of registration under that Act, will be able to opt for British citizenship—I use the broad term—in the event of Cyprus ceasing to be a member of the Commonwealth and, therefore, the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus become aliens by the operation of that Act. I hope that that fully answers the question my hon. Friend has in mind.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
I do not want to prolong the discussion. I just wanted an admission of the fact that Cypriots in this country would continue to enjoy United Kingdom citizenship as well as citizenship of Cyprus, whereas British residents in Cyprus will become aliens.

§ Mr. Callaghan
If Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
If Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. Renton
They will become aliens unless they assert the rights, which are very easily asserted, to become registered under the 1948 Act in the circumstances which I have mentioned. It is right that we should bear in mind that there will be people in Cyprus who will not become aliens simply because Cyprus decides to leave the Commonwealth. There are the native British, people of Anglo-Saxon origin who have gone there from these shores and made their homes, or whose families have made their homes, in Cyprus. They are given the right under Annex D to remain citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in spite of the fact that Cyprus becomes a Republic.
Those people, even if Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth, will retain their British citizenship. In addition, there will be the other class of people I have mentioned who can be registered under the 1948 Act, and that may well include people who are at present in Cyprus who become citizens of the new Republic of Cyprus. I think it would be convenient to leave that point now.

§ Mr. Callaghan
What the hon. Member for Liverpool, Kirkdale (Mr. N. Pannell) has in mind is parity of treatment. I do not think that the hon. and learned Gentleman has really answered that point yet.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
May I put it in this way? All Cypriots in this country who have the necessary residential qualification automatically benefit from citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies should Cyprus remain in the Commonwealth or not but it is not the fact that a similar proportion, or even the great majority, of British nationals in Cyprus would not be given Cypriot citizenship should Cyprus leave the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. Renton
I think there is a great danger of our generalising about what is quite a complex matter. I will try to help my hon. Friend again. It is my fault if the matter is not yet clear in his mind.
There are people in Cyprus who will remain citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. I should, perhaps, have 431 added previously that those people will not acquire the new status of citizen of the Republic of Cyprus. They will remain citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. They are defined on page 70, in paragraph 2 (a to e) of Section 3. Whatever happens to the Republic of Cyprus, whether it is within or without the Commonwealth, those people will automatically retain their citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
There is another group of people who will acquire the new citizenship of the new Republic of Cyprus. Incidentally, in doing so, they will, so long as Cyprus remains in the Commonwealth, be Commonwealth citizens. Those people—nearly all of them, one assumes—will, if Cyprus should leave the Commonwealth, retain their citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus and, by doing so, become aliens. But if any of them come to this country, live here for a year, or enter into the service of the British Crown, or, as I said, into other services approved by the Home Secretary, then they have the chance, under the 1948 Act, to be registered as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
Perhaps I may put it finally. I understand my hon. and learned Friend. I am sorry if I have given so much trouble to him in explaining the position to me. I am perfectly clear now that a minority of British subjects in Cyprus would, in special circumstances, enjoy dual citizenship should Cyprus leave the Commonwealth, whereas the vast majority of Cypriots in this country would automatically have the citizenship of the United Kingdom conferred upon them.

§ Mr. Stonehouse
The hon. and learned Gentleman was saying——

§ Mr. J. Amery
Perhaps I might just be allowed to say this to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Kirkdale (Mr. N. Pannell), based on the negotiations in which I have been engaged in Nicosia. We specifically asked the British residents in Cyprus whether they wished for the opportunity to take on Cypriot nationality. This was at the time when we were discussing with them the question of their possible right to representation in the Cypriot Assemblies. They made it quite clear through their 432 spokesmen that there was no wish on their part to acquire Cypriot nationality.
They preferred to retain United Kingdom nationality so that their interests could be represented through the High Commissioner or the British representative at the time. Thus, while, theoretically, there might appear to be lack of reciprocity, with Cypriots in this country acquiring British nationality whereas the prospects of British subjects in Cyprus requiring Cypriot nationality depend on the new Republic's nationality law which has not yet seen the light of day, the fact remains that the British residents in Cyprus, speaking through their spokesmen, did not wish to acquire Cypriot nationality. That was made plain to us.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
Does my hon. Friend imply that in accepting Cypriot citizenship they would have to abandon their United Kingdom citizenship?

§ Mr. Amery
I was trying to make plain that my hon. Friend was suggesting that there is absence of reciprocity in these matters.

§ Mr. N. Pannell
There is absence of reciprocity in regard to duality.

§ Mr. Amery
That absence of reciprocity in regard to duality cannot be finally stated until the Cyprus Republic's nationality law has seen the light of day. As yet, it has not. There was no wish on the part of the British residents in Cyprus to have Cypriot nationality. Indeed, when the question arose in terms of their representation in the Cyprus Assemblies, the Cypriots having made it clear that there could be no representation given to 'those who were not Cypriot nationals, they made it plain through their spokesmen that they wished to remain United Kingdom nationals and not to have Cypriot nationality. Had there been duality they would still have had Cypriot nationality, and, therefore, would have been caught by these provisions. Do I make myself clear?

§ Mr. N. Pannell
My hon. Friend makes it clear that the British in Cyprus had the option of surrendering their British nationality in favour of Cypriot nationality, whereas the Cypriots in this country will enjoy both nationalities.

§ Mr. Stonehouse
We are grateful to the hon, and learned Gentleman for pouring light on this point, but he said earlier that, in the event of the Republic of Cyprus choosing to leave the Commonwealth, if a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies Dame to the United Kingdom, or entered the service of the Crown, he would be able to claim United Kingdom citizenship. Will that individual have the right, in those circumstances, too come to the United Kingdom?

§ Mr. Renton
Yes, that is so. Such a person would have the right to do so.
The position is this. Commonwealth citizenship, or the status of British subject, conveys in general the right to go anywhere within the Commonwealth.

§ Mr. Callaghan
Except Southern Rhodesia.

§ Mr. Renton
The hon. Gentleman is making the most irrelevant interruptions. It is a difficult enough matter——

§ Mr. Callaghan
I am sure that it is relevant.

§ Mr. Renton
—without the hon. Gentleman trying to throw a spanner in the works.
Such a person coming here, within two years of independence at any rate, would have a complete right of re-entry. I ought to check this because it is a matter of detail, but I think I am right in saying that in the Treaty—it is not necessary for us to have it in the Bill, which is all that strictly speaking we are discussing—the possibility of somebody wanting to come here after he has lost his status as a Commonwealth citizen is envisaged for a short period after the date of the Treaty, but I will check that and let the hon. Gentleman know.
The hon. Gentleman asked me about the effect of Section 6 of the 1948 Act. It will not apply to those citizens who have lost their citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies. It can apply, but in practice it will frequently not apply to the people the hon. Gentleman has in mind because the prarability is that they will have lot 'their employment by the United Kingdom Government. It is a question of fact as much as of law, and it is the sort of question of fact that will have to be decided when these applications for registration are made. 434 The answer to the hon. Gentleman's question must therefore depend on the facts in each case, but, in the cases that he envisages, there will frequently have been a loss of the opportunity because of their no longer being employed by the United Kingdom Government.
The hon. Member for Wednesbury (Mr. Stonehouse) also asked about the position of people in these sovereign areas. There again, a good deal must depend on the facts and physical conditions, and it is no good trying to build up legal difficulties on the basis of facts which are not likely to arise, or which are not likely to arise in such a way and on such a large scale as to create great difficulties.
Broadly speaking, the position is that, although there will be no frontier control over entry into the sovereign areas, there will be a fairly close restriction of permission to take up residence there. Also, I think that the extent of maternity facilities will be limited. We have to bear that in mind when we are considering the possibility of what would otherwise be a danger, of a large number of expectant mothers trying to get their children born citizens of the United Kingdom and the Colonies in the sovereign areas whilst being citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. Depending on the law which the Republic of Cyprus passes, that might well be the case, and they might have dual nationality. If that were a serious possibility on a large scale, we would, perhaps, have to go into the matter further, but I am advised that is not really a serious possibility——

§ Mr. G. M. Thomson (Dundee, East)
Would the hon. and learned Gentleman say what he means by saying that residence will not be encouraged in the sovereign bases? Is there not to be access into and out of them?

§ Mr. Renton
There will, as I say, be the right of access to the sovereign areas, but the sovereign areas will, as I understand it, be military areas, and as with all military areas—well, a woman cannot just wander on to an aerodrome and say, "I'm going to have my baby here." It just cannot be done. It is the sort of physical limitation that has to be considered in a matter like this.
I hope that I have answered all these questions in a manner which is considered by the Committee to be both 435 realistic and legally accurate, but if on any small detail I may have erred, I would only ask for forgiveness, because I must say that these are the most complex nationality provisions that I think could be envisaged. They derive very largely from the somewhat complex history, including the racial history, of the island and, if I may say so, I think that my hon. Friend and those who have worked with him have done a most remarkable job in managing to get down on paper provisions that are as fundamental and, when one goes deeply into them, as intelligible as these provisions undoubtedly are.

§ Mr. Callaghan
I think that the vision of the Under-Secretary wandering on to an aerodrome to have his baby will live with us for a very long time——

§ Mr. Renton
I hope I did not give the impression that I was going to have it.

§ Mr. Callaghan
At any rate, the thought of the Under-Secretary's baby being born on an aerodrome in a British sovereign area will enliven us for many months to come.
I do not think that the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies really answered his hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Kirkdale (Mr. N. Pannell). The hon. Member for Kirkdale has a very simple point to put: if a man can be a citizen of Cyprus and a citizen of the United Kingdom in this country, why cannot he be the same if living in Cyprus? That was the hon. Member's point. The question that he could well have addressed to the Under-Secretary is: "Did you ask the British citizens living there whether, if allowed to retain their British citizenship, they would like to have also Cypriot citizenship, and did you ask the Archbishop?"
I am not sure that I agree with the hon. Member for Kirkdale on this. It does not matter to us a great deal, although there is some limitation, I think, if another State agrees to give citizenship to our people——

§ Mr. N. Pannell
I was not stating my views at all. I was asking for clarification only.

§ Mr. Callaghan
I am much obliged, because I rather deduced from the 436 assiduity with which the hon. Member followed it up that he was in favour of it. I think that, on the whole, I am against it. I think that if a man is a citizen of the United Kingdom living abroad he should not have a dual allegiance. On balance, I think that I would prefer that citizens of the United Kingdom living in Cyprus should make up their minds where they really belong. My feeling is that I would not have wanted the Under-Secretary to have pursued this, even though it is logical. I certainly think that anyone living in Cyprus should say "I shall now become a citizen of Cyprus," or, "I prefer to remain a British citizen and have the High Commissioner in Cyprus representing me." It could cause considerable difficulties, and it is not something which we want to follow.
I am sorry, but the Joint Under-Secretary did not reply to the case I put to him. I was not inventing legal difficulties; I was giving details contained in a letter which reached me this afternoon from someone who is very concerned about his position, and this is the last opportunity we shall have of clarifying it. I do not know whether the Joint Under-Secretary can deal with the point.

§ Mr. Renton
I think the hon. Gentleman's case is covered by a point I was coming to after having had an opportunity of taking some advice on the matter. If Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth and a Cypriot comes here to earn the citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies—and I understand that for a limited 'time this can be done by registration after a year's residence here—we give an undertaking that admission will not be refused even if that person has since become an alien owing to the fact of Cyprus having left the Commonwealth. I believe that the Treaty provides for a period after Cyprus might leave the Commonwealth during which, I understand, there would be the right of entry here anyway. After the period has expired and the person has come here for that purpose, when he has the right to do so, we would not refuse permission on the ground that he is an alien.

§ Mr. F. M. Bennett
My hon. Friend keeps saying, "If Cyprus decides to leave the Commonwealth", but I understand that when Cyprus becomes a Republic 437 it is up to her then, subject to the agreement of other members of the Commonwealth, to decide whether or not to come into the Commonwealth. It is not a question of Cyprus deciding to leave it; it is a matter of decision for the other members of the Commonwealth whether she should be allowed to join.

§ Mr. Renton
I am obliged to my hon. Friend. I think we have all fallen into a rather loose term of speech in this matter. My hon. Friend has correctly stated the position.

§ Mr. Callaghan
I beg the Joint Under-Secretary's pardon, but he has not dealt with the case I put. I put it very clearly, about three times. It is the case of a British citizen who was not born in this country, who goes to Cyprus to live and settles there, and is there now. As I understand it, he is not covered by Appendix T of the White Paper, on page 219. This Appendix deals with the position of British citizens of United Kingdom origin.
I am putting the specific case of a man who is not of United Kingdom origin and is not of Cypriot origin, but comes from a third nation, and who has become a British citizen and has subsequently gone to live in Cyprus. I do not think that he is covered in any part of the Agreement, even though the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies seems to have thought of everything, with his advisers. There is a gap here. It may affect only a very small class of persons, but there is no reason why we should not protect them in the same way as we are protecting the citizens of the United Kingdom of United Kingdom origin, in Appendix T.
If the Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department says that he cannot answer my question now I would ask him for an assurance that this matter will be taken up and that, perhaps before the Order in Council is made, this group of persons, very small though it may be, will be dealt with, so that they will fall into one category or the other. On balance, I think that they should fall into the category of United Kingdom citizens, who are normally regarded as having been resident in this country.

§ Mr. Renton
The hon. Member has now made the position quite clear. It 438 was not the position as I understood it from his previous references. The answer to his question is contained in three places in Annex D, under a rather complicated series of cross-references. On page 73, he will see that paragraph 9 states: Section 3 of this Annex shall not apply to such a person as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 1 of this Section if loss of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies under Section 3 of this Annex would render him stateless. We refer back to paragraph 1 of this Section and that, in its turn, refers back to paragraph 2 of Section 3, and, in particular, it is to paragraph 2 (j), which refers to a person…ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or in a colony, protectorate, protected state or United Kingdom trust territory or in the territory of any country within the British Commonwealth. In other words, the person to whom the hon. Member referred is a Commonwealth citizen.

§ Mr. Callaghan
No, he is a British citizen.

§ Mr. Renton
The hon. Member, it seems, has not understood the position that every single one of us in the Commonwealth has both a general and a special status. What we are saying here is that, never mind about the special status, if one has a general status that makes one a Commonwealth citizen or a British subject—and, as I explained, they mean the same—then, as a result of paragraph 9 on page 73, matters are to be so arranged that that person shall not be rendered Stateless. Great care has been taken in negotiating the terms of the Treaty—and I am glad to say that all concerned agree with this—that we should do everything possible to prevent people from becoming Stateless, whatever the circumstances may be in which they come into the picture.

§ Mr. Callaghan
I am sorry, but the hon. and learned Gentleman has not followed the point I am making and I apologise if it is my fault. Will he turn to Appendix T, where he will find it stated, on page 220: In this Note, 'British residents' means citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies of United Kingdom origin, ordinarily resident in Cyprus on today's date, who do not become citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. 439 I wonder whether that makes it clearer? The important words are: citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies of the United Kingdom origin I am putting to him the case of a citizen of the United Kingdom who is not of United Kingdom origin or of Cypriot origin and I am asking why that man does not qualify under Appendix T. Is there not a gap in the arrangements made for these people? Maybe no one eve-: thought there were such people, but there seem to be some. All I ask is that one of the Under Secretaries shall take up this matter again in relation to these people who, on the ground of equity, seem to have just as much right as anyone of United Kingdom origin.

§ Mr. Renton
First, I ask the hon. Member to bear in mind that Appendix T is a draft exchange of Notes between representatives. Annex D is an annex to the draft Treaty and it is upon Annex D that the nationality provisions in Clause 4 are based and the nationality provisions in the Order in Council proposed in Clause 4 will also be based. So, whatever is said in Notes exchanged at an earler date, I think what has to guide us is what is in Annex D and I have referred to the provisions in Annex D. Although I think, from my study of this very complex matter, that the position of the gentleman the hon. Member has in mind is covered by these parks of Annex D, to which I referred, we shall, nevertheless, look into the matter because we do nth want gaps in these provisions—none of the parties to the Treaty does. If we find that there is a gap, it may be that the matter can be adjusted. This is still a draft Treaty. On any small point no doubt it could be adjusted. It could also from the point of view of United Kingdom law be adjusted by the Order in Council.

§ Sir C. Mott-Radclyffe
Now that we are getting this complex problem so crystal clear, will my hon. and learned Friend answer this very simple question? If Cyprus leaves the Commonwealth and a Cypriot woman wanders on to an airfield to have a baby, and the father of the child at the time of its birth enjoys dual citizenship, what would be the nationality of the child?

§ Mr. Renton
I can only answer for the position under United Kingdom law. It would depend upon what dual citizenships the father had before one could begin to give an indication of what the position might be under any other law. The position is that under United Kingdom law the child would be born a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies. When it reached the age of 21 it would have the right under Section 19 of the British Nationality Act, 1948, to opt out of its British citizenship of it wished to do so. If it did not opt out, it would remain a British citizen for the rest of its life, whatever other citizenship or citizenships it might hold.

§ Mr. G. M. Thomson
In looking into this, will the Joint Under-Secretary bear in mind that what my hon. Friend is raising is not primarily a question of citizenship? What my hon. Friend is raising is primarily a question of the rights of persons in Cyprus to be able to take their money out and to have certain other privileges. At the moment these rights under Appendix T are entirely confined to British residents, meaning citizen's of the United Kingdom and Colonies of United Kingdom origin… My hon. Friend was perhaps unduly modest in saying that a very few number of people may be affected by the anomaly he mentioned. As far as I can tell from this, Canadians, Australians and members of other Commonwealth countries resident in Cyprus would not enjoy these privileges, which are at present confined simply to people of United Kingdom origin. It is that anomaly to which my hon. Friend has been drawing attention.

§ Mr. Renton
The point to which the hon. Gentleman referred will be a matter for the law of the future Republic of Cyprus. It is impossible for me to answer that question.

§ Mr. Callaghan
I thought that the hon. and learned Gentleman said that he would look at this again.

§ Mr. Renton
No.

§ Mr. Callaghan
In that case, I must try again. This is the last opportunity we shall have. Clause 4 deals with citizenship. There are certain rights 441 reserved to British citizens. Those rights are reserved in Appendix T.
I will try to put this simply as I can. The definition of "British residents" in Appendix T is: citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies of United Kingdom origin… should like a clear undertaking from the Joint Under-Secretary that he will look again at the words "of United Kingdom origin." They could bear very hardly upon people who are citizens of the United Kingdom and have lived many years in this country but who may not be of United Kingdom origin and who in the past have gone to live in Cyprus. They are being cut out from the benefits of Appendix T as it is now drawn. Will the hon. and learned Gentleman or the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies consider whether, by some extension of the formula, they can include such persons? Otherwise, they will be put to unnecessary hardship.

§ Mr. Renton
Yes. We will look into it further.