LORDS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 29 October 1981)

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 10. The Commons decided not to oppose the principle that people from Gibraltar should have an unqualified entitlement to British citizenship. But I regret that, despite the efforts of my noble friend Lord Bethell, the amendment which left this House, though probably workable, was in the Government's view still deficient from a drafting point of view in various respects. It provided that an unqualified entitlement to British citizenship should be held by a person who is a United Kingdom national for European Community purposes by virtue of the operation of any of the pre-accession treaties listed in Part I of Schedule 1 to the European Communities Act 1972. But in fact no one is a United Kingdom national for European Community purposes by virtue of any of those treaties.
What was I think in my noble friend's mind was that the entitlement should be held by all those who are United Kingdom nationals for the purposes of those treaties. But it is not just people from Gibraltar who are United Kingdom nationals for that purpose. People connected in various ways with this country are nationals for that purpose. In most cases such people will automatically become British citizens on commencement of the Bill and consequently do not need the benefit of the entitlement in this amendment. The other cases are British subjects under the Bill who have the right of abode here, but have no connection with Gibraltar. The amendment thus went wider than I think my noble friend intended.
Accordingly another place have agreed a provision which, while it secures the essential objectives of your Lordships' amendment, will benefit solely those whom that amendment was intended to help. The new provision confers an unqualified entitlement on those British dependent territories' citizens who are United Kingdom nationals for the purposes of the Community treaties. British dependent territories' citizens who derive that status from their links with Gibraltar are the only category of such citizens who fall to be United Kingdom nationals for the purposes of the Community treaties, and therefore they alone will be able to benefit from this provision. My Lords, I beg to move.

§ Lord Drumalbyn
My Lords, what happens if the Community treaties are altered, as they might be in 1126 the case of Cyprus being admitted to the EEC? I ask this with reference to the special territories under British control in Cyprus.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, I should like to say how glad I was to hear of the decision of his right honourable friend which my noble friend has just announced and the acceptance by the Government of the special position of the people of Gibraltar and the securing for them of that entitlement to British citizenship which, as your Lordships know, means so much to them. This seems a very wise and sensible decision, and I know that it was a hard one for Her Majesty's Government to make, because to some extent it damages the tidiness and the pattern of the Bill. But tidiness is not the most important thing in legislation. We are dealing here with human beings, and I have already heard from Gibraltar what pleasure has been caused among these loyal people at the announcement that Parliament in its combined wisdom is now securing to them this citizenship.
As your Lordships know, the people of Gibraltar have been, and are still being, subjected to pressure and to hardship by the Spanish Government in pursuit of what many others regard as an insolent claim. Therefore it will be a particular encouragement to them that the Parliament and the Government of this country have decided to accord to them this special treatment, this special acknowledgment of their close links with this country, and I would wish, as I know my noble friend Lord Bethell would very much wish, to thank Her Majesty's Government for this wise and prudent decision, and to thank my noble friend Lord Belstead in particular for the considerable part which I suspect he played in it.

§ Lord Mishcon
My Lords, I hope that your Lordships will forgive an attire which has been enforced upon me. I think that the House will agree with the sentiments of the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, in realising that the Government, if I may say so, have graciously bowed to the will of this House. It was the will of this House in regard to the brave people of Gibraltar which was secured with the support of the Opposition. I put that on record merely in order that it will be abundantly clear as to those who fought gallantly for a very gallant lot of people in Gibraltar, and on this occasion it was not a question of political division, but rather a matter of goodwill from all parts of the House.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, I should like to say that I agree entirely with what the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, has said and with what my noble friend has said. What must be taken into consideration is that no one can in any way detract from my admiration for the people of Gibraltar. When in another place I was, with others now in your Lordships' House, constant in my vigilance on behalf of Gibraltarians, as on this particular issue. But the fact of the matter is that I do not believe that at this stage we can ignore the fact that later on, in examining some of these amendments, precisely the same argument of honour and contribution to Great Britain can be advanced in the case of many other millions of people who could be affected unless we change the Bill substantially.

§ Lord Belstead
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter for his generous words. I should like to welcome back to your Lordships' House the noble Lord, Lord Mishcon. Though I I am not sure that I should be entirely happy to see his head if we go through the Division Lobby, I should like to assure him that his presence here is very welcome and that we have missed him. My noble friend Lord Drumalbyn asked me a direct question about the sovereign base areas. At the moment this is most certainly a hypothetical question. If Cyprus joined the European Community, a decision would have to be taken on the sovereign base areas, but before the people involved could benefit from Amendment No. 10 they would have to be declared to be United Kingdom nationals for European Community purposes. I am afraid that at this stage I cannot say whether or not that would happen.