§ Question proposed,That the Clause stand part of the Bill.
§ Mr. John Tilney (Liverpool, Wavertree)I should like to draw the attention of the Committee to what the Clause attempts to do. I am no lawyer, and I hate Bills which refer to past Acts, which means that one has to look up the principal Acts in order to understand them. I am amazed how difficult it has been to get a copy of the principal Act in the last few days.
The Committee will see that under Section 18 of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act, 1962, an almost privileged class was established, consisting of those people who lived in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Anyone living there and having his domicile there was excluded from the operation of that Act. I hope that the narrow scope of that provision can be widened during the passage of the Bill.
I give the Home Secretary notice that on Report I shall suggest an Amendment to widen the scope to include Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands as well as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The right hon. Gentleman may say that the Bill has nothing to do with Gibraltar and the Isle of Man, but the Bill creates four classes of United 1663 Kingdom passport. The right hon. Gentleman has devalued the £ and by the Bill he is devaluing the British passport, but not, I hope—although some people think that he is—the word "Britain". We shall now have two types of United Kingdom passport, a passport for the United Kingdom and Colonies and a fourth kind of passport for people who live in British Protectorates. I am extremely worried about the effect of putting into the third category those people who live in Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, and I give notice that I shall try to move an Amendment on Report to deal with their situation.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.