HL Deb 29 May 1968 vol 292 cc1107-9

2.40 p.m.

LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a British citizen is free to leave this country without a passport; and, if so, what documentary proof of identity and nationality is required; and, further, whether officials at points of departure for abroad are aware of of the position.]

THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD STONHAM)

My Lords, any person leaving this country may be required to produce to an immigration officer proof of his identity and nationality, and a valid passport is the most satisfactory document for this purpose. But anyone who satisfies an immigration officer by other means that he is a British subject may travel without a passport at his own risk. Immigration officers are well aware of the position, and do what they can to facilitate a passenger's departure where he has inadvertently left his passport behind or there is a genuine emergency. But their difficult task at the ports would be made even more difficult if people with valid passports were deliberately to refrain from carrying them; and I trust that the noble Lord's Question, and my reply, will help to make this generally known.

LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYE

My Lords, arising out of that reply, may I ask the Minister this question? Is he aware of the test case on May 20 at London Airport, and is he satisfied that the traveller on that occasion was correctly refused permission to leave the country?

LORD STONHAM

Yes, my Lords, I am so satisfied. The traveller on that occasion was a well-known and distinguished journalist who candidly told the immigration officer that this was a test case, and the immigration officer, being tested, quite understandably worked according to the rule and strictly according to the letter of the rule; and as he was not satisfied that the document produced by Mr. Colvin established beyond any question that he was a British citizen he acted accordingly.

LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYE

My Lords, could the Minister tell me where the documents were deficient, in that Mr. Colvin, I understand, produced a copy of a birth certificate and various other documents?

LORD STONHAM

My Lords, most certainly. Circumstances might have arisen since Mr. Colvin's birth which made him no longer a British citizen.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I am afraid I have not given the noble Lord notice of this question, but can he say what is the number of the regulation which makes it essential to prove one's identity?

LORD STONHAM

Yes, my Lords. It is subsection (1), Article 7, of the Aliens Order 1953, which requires every person over 16 who embarks to produce to an immigration officer on demand, and I quote: a valid passport or some other document satisfactorily establishing his identity and nationality. May I add that in cases of genuine emergency travellers who are British citizens and so satisfy the immigration officers can leave without a passport, and I confirm that the Government have no intention whatever of preventing British subjects as such from leaving the country without passports.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Lord for his answer to my question.

LORD TREFGARNE

My Lords, can the noble Lord say whether holders of professional pilots' licences are entitled to leave or enter the country at will, as I understand—indeed I know—that these licences have a clause on them to that effect?

LORD STONHAM

My Lords, the holders of professional pilots' licences who are British citizens are subject to the same regulations as any other British citizen.