HL Deb 28 January 1983 vol 438 cc471-80

11.23 a.m.

Baroness Vickers

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Baroness Vickers.)

On Question. Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[The Lord AMPTHILL in the Chair.]

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 1: Before Clause 1, insert the following new clause—

("Acquisition of British citizenship at commencement of 1981 Act or by birth or adoption.

—(1) A person shall at commencement become a British citizen if—

  1. (a) That person becomes a British Dependent Territories citizen at commencement under section 23 of the 1981 Act (persons becoming British Dependent Territories citizens at commencement): and
  2. (b) immediately before commencement either—
  1. (i) that person was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who had that citizenship by his birth, naturalisation or registration in the Falkland Islands: or
  2. (ii) one of that person's parents, or a parent of one of that person's parents, was, or but for his death would have been, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who so had that citizenship: or
  3. (iii) that person, being a woman, was, or had at any time been, the wife of a man who by virtue of subparagraph (i) or (ii) becomes a British citizen at commencement or would have done so but for his death.

(2) A person born in the Falkland Islands after commencement shall be a British citizen if at the time of the birth his father or mother is—

  1. (a) a British citizen: or
  2. (b) settled in the Falkland Islands.

(3) A new-born infant who, after commencement, is found abandoned in the Falkland Islands shall, unless the contrary is shown, be deemed for the purposes of subsection (2)—

  1. (a) to have been born in the Falkland Islands after commencement; and
    2. 472
  2. (b) to have been born to a parent who at the time of the birth was a British citizen or settled in the Falkland Islands.

(4) Where after commencement an order authorising the adoption of a minor who is not a British citizen is made by a court in the Falkland Islands, he shall be a British citizen as from the date on which the order is made if the adopter or, in the case of a joint adoption, one of the adopters is a British citizen on that date.

(5) Where an order in consequence of which any person became a British citizen by virtue of subsection (4) ceases to have effect, whether on annulment or otherwise, the cesser shall not affect the status of that person as a British citizen.")

The noble Baroness said: As the Committee will be aware, the majority of the Falkland Islanders are already British citizens. They acquired that status on 1st January under the British Nationality Act 1981 because of their close ancestral connections with the United Kingdom. But a small number of islanders, about 400, did not become British citizens. This was because they did not have the required connection through a parent or a grandparent born here. This minority of islanders became British Dependent Territories citizens on the strength of their connections with the Falklands. The aim of my Bill is to put them in the same position as their fellow islanders by conferring British citizenship on them.

The Committee will recall that, during the debate on Second Reading, my noble friend Lord Elton kindly undertook to provide Government assistance with the drafting of amendments. I wish to thank him, and I understand that the following amendments are supported by the Government. It will not have escaped your Lordships' notice that the amendments which stand in my name replace the original clauses with new ones. To that extent, your Lordships have before you what has all the appearance of a new Bill. It may be helpful, therefore, if I say something about the measure as a whole.

The changes are not great and are mainly for technical reasons. There has been no material change of intention. The Bill as amended would preserve in essence the intentions of my original Bill while ironing out as far as possible any departures from the scheme provided by the British Nationality Act 1981. The amended Bill seeks to provide as nearly as practicable that the Falkland Islanders will be in the same position as regards citizenship as if their connections with the Falklands had been with the United Kingdom.

The Bill provides that a person who became a British Dependent Territories citizen under the British Nationality Act 1981 on 1st January 1983 will become a British citizen if he or she or a parent or grandparent was born, registered or naturalised in the Falklands. A woman who is a British Dependent Territories citizen will acquire British citizenship if her husband acquires it under the Bill. This will cover the vast majority of people who are British Dependent Territories citizens by reason of a connection with the Falkland Islands. It is not intended to include anyone whose ancestral ties have been deliberately broken. Those apart, any who are not covered will have only a fairly remote ancestral connection with the Falklands. It would, I understand, have taken an extremely complex Bill to confer British citizenship automatically on all such people. However, if such a person or his or her parent has settled in the Falklands, the Bill will give the Secretary of State power to register that person as a British citizen.

If enacted, the commencement date will be 1st January 1983, the same as the 1981 Act. Anyone born in the Falkland Islands on or after that date will be a British citizen if at the time of the birth one of the parents was a British citizen. I should explain that in this context "British citizen" includes a person who acquires that status under the Bill. He or she will also be a British citizen if either parent was settled in the Falkland Islands. This is equivalent to the provision in the 1981 Act under which a person acquires British citizenship by birth in the United Kingdom.

The Bill does not introduce any general provisions to register or naturalise people in the Falklands as British citizens. Instead, all the 1981 Act's provisions relating to the acquisition of British Dependent Territories citizenship by registration or naturalisation will remain in force in the Falklands, including those giving entitlements to registration in certain circumstances to children born in a dependent territory who do not acquire citizenship at birth. The Secretary of State will have power to register as a British citizen any person who becomes a British Dependent Territories citizen by registration or naturalisation in the Falklands or on the grounds of a connection with the Falklands. The Secretary of State's general power under Section 3(1) of the 1981 Act to register any minor as a British citizen will continue to be available.

The Bill sets out which people who become British citizens under the Bill will be citizens by descent. The effect of its provisions is that anyone who acquires British citizenship by birth, registration or naturalisation in the Falkland Islands will be a British citizen otherwise than by descent and this is very important—those persons will therefore be able to pass on that citizenship to their children. It does not matter if the person was previously a British citizen by descent under the 1981 Act. Nor does it matter whether British citizenship is acquired at commencement or afterwards. All British citizens by reason of birth, naturalisation or registration in the Falklands will have the same right to pass on their citizenship as have British citizens by birth, naturalisation or registration in the United Kingdom. The Bill does not make specific provision for the children born outside the Falklands to British citizens otherwise than by descent to acquire citizenship. This is largely covered, I understand, by Section 2 of the 1981 Act. I believe that, if my amendments are agreed by your Lordships, the Bill as so amended will make proper and adequate provision for the citizenship of the Falkland Islanders, which I am sure all would wish.

Clause 1 sets out the persons who will become British citizens at commencement and makes provision for the acquisition of British citizenship after commencement by birth or adoption in the Falkland Islands. So far as people born before commencement are concerned, the aim is, so far as is practicable, to confer British citizenship on all those who, on 1st January 1983, became British dependent territories citizens under Section 23 of the 1981 Act by virtue of their connection with the Falklands. Under the proposed Clause 5(2) of the Bill, commencement date will be 1st January 1983, so that the persons affected will be deemed to have become British citizens on the same date as that on which they became British dependent territories citizens.

Therefore, broadly speaking, the people concerned, about whom we are talking today, have the same kind of links with the Falklands as the people who became British citizens at the commencement of the 1981 Act have with the United Kingdom. Subsection (1) deals with persons who automatically became British dependent territories citizens under Section 23 of the 1981 Act at commencement on 1st January 1983. I beg to move.

Lord Elton

I should like very briefly to welcome my noble friend's readiness to amend the Bill so thoroughly in order to ensure that it achieves all that she and Her Majesty's Government wish it to achieve. She has correctly explained the effects of the Bill as they will be if your Lordships' Committee accepts the amendment, and I am glad to advise your Lordships to agree with it. As we come to further amendments, it might save time if your Lordships will take my silence to indicate a similar advice on each of them.

Lord Bruce of Donington

We on this side of the Committee wish to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Vickers, for the very thorough way in which she has pursued this important matter since the debates on the original British Nationality Bill; and we entirely support her. We are also grateful for what I might call the amende honorable by Her Majesty's Government, in deciding not only to afford the noble Baroness such technical assistance, which she may or may not have needed, but also to have facilitated the passage of the Bill through your Lordships' House.

We on this side rather thought that in the course of the Second Reading debate on the Bill the noble Lord opposite was far more concerned to establish the validity of the initial proposals in the original Act than the proposal put forward by the noble Baroness. At the time one almost gathered from him—it was perhaps only an impression—that in his view the new Bill proposed by the noble Baroness did not represent any vast change at all in Government policy. At least, that was the impression that he gave.

But the act has now been done, or will be done. In perhaps a few months' time, or maybe even in a year's time, we shall know with greater exactitude the real effects on the minds of the Argentinian Government of Her Majesty's Government's original decision to exclude these worthy people in the Falklands from full British citizenship. Undoubtedly it was one factor that was taken into account. After all, one cannot, on the one hand, claim to support the paramountcy of the wishes of the islanders, and express one's determination to stand by them through thick and thin, while at the same time, through the arm of the Home Office, decide that they shall not be granted full British citizenship.

It is not for me to speculate on what might or might not have gone on in Cabinet when the British Nationality Bill was originally considered by it, which I presume it was. I should rather have thought that at some time somebody would be alerted to the Falklands implication of the Bill itself and would have passed some comment on the matter in Cabinet. I cannot believe that it was taken in isolation——

Lord Elton

I do not want to be in any way discourteous. The noble Lord is entirely free to hold what opinions he wishes about the antecedents of this Bill, but there were opportunities to discuss the point that he is now making both in the debate on the report on the Falkland Islands and at the Second Reading stage of the present Bill. Therefore, would it not be helpful if we were to proceed to consider the amendment before the Committee, which is Amendment No. 1, without considering the context further?

Lord Bruce of Donington

Yes, I am aware of the inconvenience to the party opposite of having these matters ventilated, but what I have been saying is a perfectly proper observation to make, and one which, had the noble Lord been sitting in opposition instead of being in Government, he would have pursued with some vigour. So he must not complain if I exercise the same degree of vigour as he would have done in the circumstances.

Lord Elton

All is fair in politics, as in love and war, no doubt. All that I am seeking is the convenience, not of my party but of your Lordships' Committee. This is the Committee stage of a Bill, and I thought that we ought to consider the amendments to it.

Lord Bruce of Donington

Yes, I entirely agree, and I shall not detain the Committee for long. But I think the point has to be made that history will pass a verdict on the provisions of the original British Nationality Bill that affect the Falklands, as indeed I hope it will pass a more optimistic judgment about the decision to support the noble Baroness on this occasion. We entirely agree with the noble Baroness's amendments, and we shall support them.

Lord Boyd-Carpenter

From this side of the Committee I should like to congratulate my noble friend on having brought her measure to this point and on having secured the technical assistance of the Home Office, which will no doubt result in the Bill being framed in adequate and proper legal form. I believe that my noble friend is to be congratulated, and I hope that my noble friend on the Front Bench will give some indication that Her Majesty's Government's assistance to the measure does not terminate at this stage but that, on the contrary, if your Lordships' House passes the Bill in its amended form, proper steps will be taken to secure its passage through another place.

As the noble Lord, Lord Stewart of Fulham, with his usual quickness, pointed out at a previous stage, I was one of those noble Lords who voted against my noble friend's amendment to the British Nationality Bill itself. Thus I appear in the role of redeemed penitent. There is—the right reverend Prelate will confirm this—more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repenteth than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. I wish to indicate that repentance and also the somewhat worldly considerations which I think the noble Lord, Lord Stewart of Fulham, knows perfectly well motivated me and several others of us. Had my noble friend at that stage carried the amendment which the present Bill now carries, it was at least probable, we were led to believe, that not only would it have been rejected in another place but so would have been the amendment in respect of Gibraltar, which your Lordships' House had previously carried.

Therefore, having cleared both my conscience and any anxieties on the part of the noble Lord, Lord Stewart of Fulham—I have known him so many years that I should hate him to have any anxieties about my consistency—I should like to wish the Bill a speedy passage, and in particular to seek, as I am sure I shall be given, the assurance of my noble friend on the Front Bench that Her Majesty's Government will see that it reaches the statute book as quickly as possible. I only need further to remind your Lordships, if it be necessary, of the fact that the second-class citizenship given by the original measure to the islanders was featured in the advertisement which a number of Argentines placed in the national press during the recent war.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Ampthill)

The Question is, That the original Clause 1 stand part of the Bill?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I think the next amendment is to leave out Clause 1.

The Deputy Chairman of Committees

I think the noble Lord will find that I am correctly saying that the Question is, That the original Clause 1 stand part of the Bill?

On Question, Clause 1 disagreed to.

11.40 p.m.

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 2: After Clause 1 insert the following new clause:

("Acquisition of British citizenship by registration.

—(1) If—

  1. (a) an application is made for the registration as a British citizen of a person who is a British Dependent Territories citizen by virtue of section 23 of the 1981 Act (persons becoming British Dependent Territories citizens at commencement); and
  2. (b) that person or a parent of that person was settled in the Falkland Islands either immediately before commencement or, in the case of a parent of that person who died before commencement, immediately before that parent's death,
the Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit, cause the person to whom the application relates to be registered as a British citizen.

(2) If—

  1. (a) an application is made for the registration as a British citizen of a person who is a British Dependent Territories citizen by virtue of registration or naturalisation under the 1981 Act; and
  2. (b) either—
  1. (i) that registration or naturalisation was effected in the Falkland Islands in pursuance of arrangements made under section 43 of the 1981 Act (exercise of functions of Secretary of State by Governors and others), or
  2. (ii) the Secretary of State is satisfied that the naturalisation or registration was effected wholly or partly by reason of a connection which that person or some other person had with the Falkland Islands,
the Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit, cause the person to whom the application relates to be registered as a British citizen.")

The noble Baroness said: Despite some of his words, I should like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Donnington, for the great co-operation he has given, for the fact that he was thinking of bringing the Bill in himself, but that he very kindly let me continue to do this because I had worked rather hard before his intervention on the original Bill. I should also like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, for his magnificent words. I have never known anybody to be so kind and generous and repent so publicly. I never heard him do it in the other place. Indeed, this House must have had a soothing effect on him.

Clause 2 deals with registration as a British citizen at the discretion of the Secretary of State. It introduces two provisions under which a British dependent territories citizen may be registered as a British citizen. Subsection (1) concerns a person who became British dependent territories citizen under Section 23 of the 1981 Act.

Clause 1 does not give British citizenship automatically to every possible category of person who might have become a British dependent territories citizen under Section 23 by reason of a connection with the Falkland Islands. The people who do not qualify under Clause 1 are mainly those who were registered as citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies outside the dependent territories and have a connection with the Falkland Islands through a paternal great grandfather or an even more remote ancestor in the male line. Such a person's ancestral links with the Falklands would not, therefore, be very close, but if he or a parent has established closer connections by settling in the Falklands, the Secretary of State may register him as a British citizen under subsection (1). To be eligible, the person or his or her parents must have been settled in the Falklands immediately before commencement of the Bill. I beg to move.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 3: After Clause 1, insert the following new clause:

("Cases in which this Act produces British citizens "by descent".

—(1) A person who is a British citizen by virtue of the application to him of any provision of this Act but not otherwise shall, for the purposes of the 1981 Act, be a British citizen "by descent" if, and only if, being a person who became a British citizen at commencement, he would not be a British citizen by virtue of this Act but for subsection (l)(b)(ii) or (iii) of section (Acquisition of British citizenship at commencement of 1981 Act or by birth or adoption).

(2) A person who is a British citizen by virtue of the application to him of any of the provisions of the 1981 Act as well as being a British citizen by virtue of the application to him of any provision of this Act shall, for the purposes of that Act, be a British citizen "by descent" if, and only if, being a person who became a British citizen at commencement, he—

  1. (a) would have been a British citizen by descent if this Act had not been passed; and
  2. (b) would not be a British citizen by virtue of this Act but for subsection (1)(b)(ii) or (iii) of section (Acquisition of British citizenship at commencement of 1981 Act or by birth or adoption).").

The noble Baroness said: Clause 3 sets out the circumstances in which a person who acquires British citizenship under the Bill at commencement becomes a citizen by descent.

The transmission of British citizenship to children born abroad to a British citizen parent is governed by Section 2 of the 1981 Act. In general, citizenship is passed on if it is held, in the words of the Act: "otherwise than by descent". The 1981 Act sets out in Section 14 which British citizens are by descent; generally speaking, such citizens cannot transmit their citizenship to their children. Any category of British citizen not mentioned in Section 14 is a citizen otherwise than by descent and can transmit.

The aim of Clause 3 is to ensure that people who become British citizens under the Bill because of their connection with the Falklands will be on the same footing as regards transmission of citizenship as all the people in Britain and elsewhere who became British citizens under the 1981 Act because of their connection with the United Kingdom. I beg to move.

Lord Renton

I rise on a very small point of obscurity but at the end of the sixth line of this new clause it says: but for subsection (l)(b)(ii) or (iii) (of section". and what the section does is to insert the heading as usual in italics. Would it not be helpful if the number of the section were inserted? Perhaps this is something which could receive attention at Report stage. As it stands, I think it will give those who genuinely wish to find out what the law is a little bit of difficulty, whereas if the number of the section were given it would be helpful.

Lord Elton

It will be given in the final print, but it does not have a number and therefore the number cannot appear on the Marshalled list.

Lord Renton

I see. But I do not think that my noble friend has quite taken the point. This is a reference to something that is already established. If it is to be put in at a later stage, well and good. But I thought it might have been put in at this stage. However, I accept what my noble friend says, as long as it will be dealt with later.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 4: After Clause 1, insert the following new clause:

("Supplementary provisions. 1981 c. 61.

—(1) In this Act— the 1981 Act" means the British Nationality Act 1981; commencement" has the same meaning as in the 1981 Act, that is to say the beginning of 1st January 1983 (that being the day appointed under section 53(2) of that Act for the commencement of all except sections 49 and 53 of that Act); the Falkland Islands" means the Colony of the Falkland Islands.

(2) The following provisions of the 1981 Act shall apply for the purpose of this Act as they apply for the purposes of that Act, namely—

  1. (a) section 41 (regulations and Orders in Council), so far as it relates to the making of regulations;
  2. (b) section 42 (registration and naturalisation: general provisions), so far as it relates to registration;
  3. (c) section 44 (decisions involving exercise of discretion);
  4. (d) section 45 (evidence);
  5. (e) section 46 (offences and proceedings);
  6. (f) sections 47 and 48 (legimated and posthumous children); and
  7. (g) section 50 (interpretation).

(3) In the following provisions of the 1981 Act, namely—

  1. (a) section 37(1)(a) (by virtue of which a person who is a British citizen under that Act has the status of a Commonwealth citizen);
  2. (b) section 40(2)(a)(i) (deprivation of British citizenship of a person registered as a British citizen under that Act); and
    3. 479
  3. (c) section 51(3)(a)(ii) (meaning of "citizen of United Kingdom and Colonies" in certain contexts),
for the words "this Act" there shall be substituted the words "the British Nationality Acts 1981 and 1983".").

The noble Baroness said: The final two clauses of the Bill contain mainly technical provisions which are needed to bring the Bill into effect and to ensure it is consistent with the 1981 Act where appropriate. I do not propose to go into great detail on them. If there are any points that noble Lords wish to make perhaps they would do so afterwards.

Clause 4(1) is self-explanatory. It simply gives the meaning of expressions used in the Bill. In subsection (2) this is done by incorporating certain provisions of the 1981 Act. Subsection (3) would insert a reference to this Act in certain other provisions of the 1981 Act. I beg to move.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 5: After Clause 1, insert the following new clause:

("Citation provision for retrospective effect, and extent. 1981 c. 61.

—(1) This Act may be cited as the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983; and this Act and the British Nationality Act 1981 may be cited together as the British Nationality Acts 1981 and 1983.

(2) This Act shall be deemed to have come into force on 1st January 1983 (that is to say at commencement as defined in subsection (1) of section (Supplementary provisions)); and accordingly, subject to subsection (3), where the requirements of any provision of section (Acquisition of British citizenship at commencement of 1981 Act or by birth or adoption) for the acquisition of British citizenship were satisfied in relation to any person at commencement or at any time between commencement and the passing of this Act, that person shall be treated as having acquired that citizenship at that time.

(3) Nothing in section (Acquisition of British citizenship at commencement of 1981 Act or by birth or adoption) shall confer British citizenship—

  1. (a) on a person in respect of whom a declaration of renunciation of British Dependent Territories citizenship was registered under the 1981 Act at any time before the passing of this Act; or
  2. (b) on a person who at any time before the passing of this Act was deprived under the 1981 Act of his British Dependent Territories citizenship.

(4) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.

(5) This Act extends to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and to all dependent territories: and it is hereby declared for the purposes of section 3(3) of the West Indies Act 1967 that this Act extends to all associated states.")

The noble Baroness said: This needs no further explanation, I understand. Subsection (2) provides for the Bill to be deemed to have come into effect on 1st January 1983. It also ensures that a person born in the Falklands between 1st January 1983 and the date the Act is passed will be a citizen from birth. I beg to move.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Clause 2 disagreed to.

Baroness Vickers moved Amendment No. 6:

In the title: line 1, leave out from ("to") to end of line 2 and insert ("provide for the acquisition of British citizenship by persons having connections with the Falkland Islands.")

The noble Baroness said: In regard to the Title, the Long Title is changed to an Act to, provide for the acquisition of British citizenship by persons having connections with the Falkland Islands.

This Title describes the provisions of the Bill exactly. The previous Title could have been understood to have excluded automatic acquisition of British citizenship and referred to "citizens of the Falkland Islands," a status which does now not exist.

On Question, amendment agreed to.

Title agreed to.

House resumed: Bill reported with amendments.