HL Deb 19 December 1983 vol 446 c483

2.48 p.m.

Lord Brockway

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

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any registrars of marriages have been given instructions that certain persons seeking their services should be asked for their passports, and if so for what purpose.

Lord Glenarthur

My Lords, where either party to a proposed marriage comes from abroad, and particularly where he or she has a limited knowledge of the English language, all superintendent registrars have been advised by successive Registrars General to inspect a passport or other official travel or identity document in order to verify that the particulars in the notice of marriage have been given correctly. This advice has been given since 1922.

Lord Brockway

My Lords, is the Minister aware that the Camden Borough Council made an investigation into this practice and found severe discrimination against blacks and Asians? Is he aware that, in one case, an Asian who had lived here for a long time and who spoke English well was required to produce a passport, while whites from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are not required to produce their passports, even, in one case, when the three conditions which the Home Office has laid down were not carried out by that person? Is not marriage a very personal matter in which these political issues should not be pressed?

Lord Glenarthur

My Lords, it is not a question of pressing political issues as the noble Lord suggests. In the particular case to which the noble Lord refers, the London Borough of Camden has, in fact, apologised because what happened was an error.

Lord Brockway

My Lords, I am not sure that I heard the last answer correctly. Have the Government replied to the request of the Camden Borough Council that this practice should be amended?

Lord Glenarthur

My Lords, it is not a question of amending the practice. The practice is necessary and has gone on since 1922. I said that in the particular instance in Camden to which the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, referred, it was a mistake and it should not, in that particular case, have occurred.

Lord Morris

My Lords, would my noble friend agree with me that marriage is the most idyllic of voyages?

Lord Glenarthur

Yes, my Lords, I suppose it is in those circumstances.