§ Mr. R. Morganasked the Home Secretary whether he will reconsider the suspension of the naturalisation of aliens in cases where they have done and are doing the State much service; and whether, since the investigating officials of his Department may be occupied, he will accept, in suitable cases, the testimony of three or four friends or acquaintances as to the bona fides of the applicants?
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§ Mr. H. MorrisonNo, Sir. I recognise that a large number of aliens are rendering valuable assistance to the war effort of the United Nations, but the number who could get three or four acquaintances to testify on their behalf is still larger. To confine the proposed procedure to "suitable cases" as suggested would mean either differentiating in favour of those applicants who can secure influential support or else examining thousands of applications to discover which of them come up to some prescribed standard of suitability. The Statute imposes on the Secretary of State a serious responsibility in regard to naturalisation which he cannot discharge by accepting without independent inquiry the statements of friends or acquaintances of applicants.
§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the Home Secretary how many aliens doing scientific or kindred work in aid of the war effort have applied for naturalisation; and to how many has this been granted up to date?
§ Mr. MorrisonI am not in a position to say how many of the numerous aliens who have applied for naturalisation are doing scientific work in aid of the war effort. As I have stated in reply to other Questions, it has been necessary since the middle of 1940 to suspend the work of examining and dealing with applications for naturalisation, except as regards applications from British-born women and a few cases (amounting to 50 in all during the last three years) in which it has been shown that immediate naturalisation is required for some special purpose connected with the war effort.