HC Deb 28 June 1974 vol 875 c17W
Mr. Carter

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he is now in a position to make the statement promised on 8th May about the inclusion of the children of British women married to foreign nationals on their mothers' passports.

Mr. Ennals

I am satisfied that it would not be in the interests of children who are not United Kingdom nationals to allow their names to be added to the passports of their parents except in urgent compassionate circumstances.

It is in the interests of all children born abroad that their national status should be established without delay. To include the name of a child born abroad to a British mother married to a foreign national on its mother's British passport obscures the child's true nationality and may be taken as evidence by the parents and foreign authorities that the child has the same nationality as its mother. In fact, most such children have the nationality of their father or of the country in which they were born and can therefore be given their own national passports.

When, in an urgent compassionate case, the foreign authority concerned is unable to issue a passport in the time available, the rules permit the inclusion of the child in the United Kingdom passport of its mother for a limited period.