British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill [H.L.] (Hansard, 14 February 1994)

§ Lord Bonham-Carter
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time. I do not propose to reiterate the arguments put forward at Second Reading and refined to some extent at Committee stage and which are set forth in a letter published in The Times today. Those arguments explain why it seems to us self-evident that we have an obligation to this relatively small group of people— the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong— to whom this Bill would offer a safety net. I very much hope that when the Bill goes to another place the Government will not exercise their ability to block it. It is a Bill which has widespread support on all sides of this House and I believe on all sides of another place. If there were a free vote in another place I believe that it would be passed overwhelmingly. I believe it is a matter of honour for this country that it be passed. So once more I make a plea that the Government restrain themselves on this occasion when the Bill goes to another place.
Meanwhile, I should like to take this opportunity to thank those of your Lordships who have been good enough to support the Bill in this House, both when we first passed a Resolution last July by a majority of 60 to 48 and subsequently at Second Reading and at Committee stage. I should like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, a former Governor of Hong Kong, the noble Lord, Lord Geddes, the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, and the noble Lords, Lord Willoughby de Broke, Lord Chalfont, Lord Wyatt of Weeford, Lord Beaumont and Lord Butterfield— I hope I have not forgotten any— for supporting it. I should also like to thank the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, for his understanding opposition. I forgot to mention the support of the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh of Haringey, which has been most valuable.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the House has already expressed itself on the principle behind the Bill which the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, has so properly and lucidly introduced and piloted through the procedures of your Lordships' House. I apologise to him for coming in late for his brief contribution. In case he has not said so I think that the argument is admirably expressed in the letter to The Times today which he drafted and to which I had the honour to add my name. I do not believe there is anything further that I can say other than that I hope and believe, in the light of the arguments put forward, that the Government should and will see fit to accede to those arguments and to make this very modest and minimal step in favour of justice for those to whom justice is being denied.

§ Lord Bramall
My Lords, I shall be very brief as behoves me at this Third Reading but I sometimes wonder whether the Government, and indeed this country, fully appreciate what a traumatic event it will be for people living in Hong Kong when we pass over sovereignty in 1997. In Gibraltar, which was also obtained as a result of military action many years ago, the wishes of the inhabitants are repeatedly said to be paramount; and in any case the Gibraltarians have full British citizenship. Yet in Hong Kong these things do not apply. However skilfully the transition is organised — I hope that it still can be so organised— personal traumas and tragedies will remain, which makes our obligation to see that that transition is as painless as possible all the greater. When a group such as the one which is the subject of the noble Lord's Bill has been positively identified by successive governors, by the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and, I have reason to believe, by our own Foreign Office as being, because of its non-ethnic origins, particularly and uniquely disadvantaged as regards citizenship and long-term right of abode, it surely deserves to be treated with a magnanimity of spirit which would cost us virtually nothing and not be subject to an inflexible rule of thumb and some weasel-worded and frankly worthless half promises. I therefore also plead with the Government not to stand in the way of this humane and fair Bill but to allow a free vote on it in another place.

§ Lord Geddes
My Lords, as I did at Second Reading, I rise now to give my wholehearted support to the Bill in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter. I have one regret only, and I mention this specifically for the benefit of my noble friend on the Front Bench. I was not a signatory to the letter to The Times today. I totally support the content of that letter and I ask him to read the letter as if my name was also at the bottom of it. I support the Bill.

§ Lord Wilson of Tillyorn
My Lords, this is surely a Bill which deserves to get the best possible send-off from your Lordships' House. A number of things have become clear during the debates on the Bill. One is that there is a real problem for which we have real responsibility. Another is that it is a relatively small problem so that, unlike so many others, we can actually deal with it. Yet another is that these proposals have 17 overwhelming support from those in Hong Kong who speak for the community as well as widespread support in your Lordships' House.
I should like to repeat my own support for the Bill and also that of my noble friend and fellow former Governor, Lord MacLehose of Beoch, who is unable to be here today. I hope and I trust that when the Bill reaches the next stage of its journey in another place it will be given a fair and positive welcome, as it deserves.

§ Lord Chalfont
My Lords, I hesitate to prolong the proceedings much further except to say that had it not been for the vision and resolution of the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, first in moving a Resolution in your Lordships' House concerning this matter and then subsequently introducing this Bill and piloting it through the House, the way in which we treat this very important minority in Hong Kong may not have received the attention which it deserves.
If this Bill passes through both Houses, as I sincerely hope and trust it will, that minority in Hong Kong will have much to thank your Lordships for and also the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter. I join with other noble Lords in giving full and enthusiastic support to the Bill.

§ Lord Butterfield
My Lords, I am sorry that, in one case because of illness and, in another, inflexible events, I was prevented from speaking earlier on the passage of this Bill. I wish to support the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, in all his efforts and also those who spoke in favour of the Bill.
The point that I wish to make is one I made last summer when we discussed this matter; namely, arising from my academic responsibilities in Hong Kong, and I have checked on the numbers, I find that over the past 10 years I have had longish interviews with no less than 450 young people in Hong Kong. I wish noble Lords to know that fewer and fewer of them, speaking quite intimately with me, have a real wish to leave the Pacific Rim with all its improving prospects. They want to live in Hong Kong protected by British citizenship or in Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore or Japan.
I support this measure without reserve. It seems to me that it will give these young people, particularly the grandchildren, the option to come to us or to keep the protection of a British passport— that is to say, a European Community passport— into the future. I calculated that if, even down to their grandchildren, they all came here, bringing with them their entrepreneurial skills, computer and molecular biological talents— and even in some cases their cricketers— that would add only one of them for every 20,000 citizens of Europe. I support this Bill and hope that it will have a safe passage through the other place.

Earl Ferrers
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, has introduced the Third Reading of this Bill with a speech of commendable brevity. That style has been repeated by others of your Lordships. I hope not to disappoint your Lordships in that remarkable track record. The noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, invited the Government to accede to the 18 arguments that the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, so lucidly explained today and previously; and also in the important letter that he and others wrote and which appears in The Times today. Rather like the man running after the bus which has just left the bus stop, my noble friend Lord Geddes asked if I would read the letter as though his name was on it: too, but unfortunately it was not. The next time I read that letter I shall try to remember that he would have liked to been invited to add his name to it.
I admire the concern which the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, has for those sections of the community to whom this Bill is directed. I have made clear throughout its passage that the Bill itself does not carry the support of the Government. We have always known that some sections of the ethnic minority population in Hong Kong would face problems as regards their status after 1997. We have made provision for them in the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. We made provision for the British nationals who might otherwise become stateless to become British overseas citizens. We gave an assurance regarding their admissibility to the United Kingdom if the people concerned come under pressure to leave Hong Kong.
I know that this will not satisfy those noble Lords who have spoken, but the Government do not feel that it is necessary to go further. I have tried to persuade the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, of the Government's views, as I have many other noble Lords, but not for the first time, and I daresay not for the last in my experience, the noble Lord, Lord Bonham-Carter, has remained resolute and he wishes his Bill to go forward. He has a number of very influential people in support of his Bill.
I admire his pertinacity and the goodwill which he has towards these people. Ii would like to give the noble Lord the satisfaction he desires, but for all the reasons I have given, both on this occasion and others, this does not commend itself to the Government. I shall merely content myself with congratulating the noble Lord for the way in which he has introduced the Bill and for having got it thus far.

§ Lord Bonham-Carter
My Lords, I do not propose to extend this debate. I wish to thank the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, for his answer. He will not be surprised that his argument did not convince me and, I suspect, A did not convince him. I forgot to thank my noble friend Lord Beaumont for supporting this Bill and I now do so. I commend the Bill to your Lordships.