§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why passports are required for journeys from Scotland to oil rigs located in the Scottish sector of the North Sea; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. SummerskillI have been asked to reply.
Under the Immigration Act 1971 an immigration officer may require any person seeking to embark from or to enter the United Kingdom to produce a valid passport or some other document satisfactorily establishing his identity and nationality or citizenship, and this exam-nation has to extend to people going to or from oil rigs since there is direct travel to the rigs from foreign ports.